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Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count (derived from the Latin Comes, with a history of its own) or a British earl (an Anglo-Saxon title akin to the Viking title Jarl). A derivation ultimately from Greek verb graphein 'to write' may be fanciful: Paul the Deacon wrote in Latin ca 790: "the count of the Bavarians that they call gravio who governed Bauzanum and other strongholds…" (Historia gentis Langobardorum, V.xxxvi); this may be read to make the term a Germanic one, but by then using Latin terms was quite common. Today, Graf is considered part of the name, and no longer to be considered as a title.
List of nobiliary titles containing the term graf Some are approximately of comital rank, some higher, some lower. The more important ones are treated in separate articles (follow the links), a few minor, rarer ones only in sections below. Gefürsteter Graf A "princely count" was a Graf (Count), whose principality was also called a Grafschaft (countship), but who was explicitly marked as a (Reichs)fürst Notable cases were: Landgrave A Landgraf, or Landgrave, was a nobleman of comital rank in feudal Germany whose jurisdiction stretched over a sometimes quite considerable territory. The title survived from the times of the Holy Roman Empire. The status of a landgrave was often associated with sovereign rights and decision-making much greater than that of a simple Count, but carried no legal prerogatives. Landgraf occasionally continued in use as the subsidiary title of such nobility as the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who functioned as the Landgrave of Thuringia in the first decade of the 20th century; but the title fell into disuse after World War I. The jurisdiction of a landgrave was a Landgrafschaft landgraviate and the wife of a landgrave was a Landgräfin landgravine. Examples: Landgrave of Thuringia, Landgrave of Hesse, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg. Gefürsteter Landgraf A combination of Landgraf and Gefürsteter Graf (both above). Example: Leuchtenberg, later a duchy. Burgrave / Viscount A Burggraf, or Burgrave, was a 12th and 13th century military and civil judicial governor of a castle (compare Castellan, Custos, Keeper), of the town it dominated and of its immediate surrounding countryside. His jurisdiction was a Burggrafschaft, burgraviate. Later the title became ennobled and hereditary with its own domain. Example: Burgrave of Nuremberg. It occupies the same relative rank as titles rendered in purist German by Vizegraf, in Dutch as Burggraaf or in English as Viscount (), in origin also a deputy of a Count, as the burgrave usually in a castle or fortified town. Soon many became hereditary and almost-a-Count, ranking just below the 'real' Counts, but above a Freiherr (Baron). It was also often used as a courtesy title, by the heir to a Graf. Rhinegrave A Rheingraf, or Rhinegrave, was a nobleman with the status of a count in the 12th and 13th centuries, the governor of one of the many castles or fortresses along the Rhine River in Western Germany, who had the entitlement of levying tolls for passage along the river. Altgrave An Altgraf, or altgrave, was a nobleman of the status of a Count who had his dominion in mountainous areas of Germany and the Alpine regions, particularly around mountain passes where he had rights and entitlements of establishing garrisons at such points, and of levying tolls for passage. Originally it was a title of veneration rather than the holding of power. Wildgrave A Wildgraf, Wildgrave, or Waldgrave was originally a nobleman of the status of count who had jurisdiction over uncultivated areas, forests and uninhabited districts. His legal privileges eventually vested in him the power of a chief forester and gamekeeper of a district. See Raugrave Raugrave A Raugraf, or Raugrave only held jurisdiction over waste ground and uninhabited districts. The title was originally owned by Graf Emich I, of a minor Frankish noble dynasty from the 12th century whose sons split the dynasty into Raugrafen and Wildgrafen. The dynasty died out in the 18th century. * The title was taken over after Elector Palatine Karl Ludwig I had purchased the estates, and after 1667 owned by the children from the Elector's bigamous (morganatic) second marriage and Karl's wife, Marie Louise von Degenfeld. See also | ||||||||
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