Editing Baron (section)

===Germany===
{{See also|Freiherr}}
In pre-republican [[Germany]] all the [[knight]]ly families of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (sometimes distinguished by the prefix {{lang|de|[[von]]}} or {{lang|de|[[Nobiliary particle|zu]]}}) eventually were recognised as of baronial rank, although {{lang|de|Ritter}} is the literal translation for "knight", and persons who held that title enjoyed a distinct, but lower, rank in Germany's nobility than barons ({{lang|de|[[Freiherr]]en}}). The wife of a {{lang|de|Freiherr}} (Baron) is called a {{lang|de|Freifrau}} or sometimes {{lang|de|Baronin}}, his daughter {{lang|de|Freiin}} or sometimes {{lang|de|Baroness}}.

Families which had always held this status were called {{lang|de|[[Uradel]]}} ('primordial/ancient/original nobility'), and were heraldically entitled to a three-pointed coronet. Families which had been [[ennoblement|ennobled]] at a definite point in time ({{lang|de|Briefadel}} or "nobility by [[letters patent|patent]]") had seven points on their coronet. These families held their fief in [[vassal]]age from a [[suzerain]]. The holder of an [[allodial]] (i.e. suzerain-free) barony was thus called a [[Free Lord]], or {{lang|de|[[Freiherr]]}}. Subsequently, sovereigns in Germany conferred the title of {{lang|de|Freiherr}} as a [[ranks of nobility and peerage|rank]] in the nobility, without implication of allodial or feudal status.

Since 1919, hereditary titles have had no legal status in Germany. In modern, republican Germany, {{lang|de|Freiherr}} and {{lang|de|Baron}} remain heritable only as part of the legal [[surname]] (and may thereby be transmitted to husbands, wives and children, without implication of nobility).

In Austria, hereditary titles have been completely banned. Thus, a member of the formerly reigning [[House of Habsburg]] or members of the former nobility would in most cases simply be addressed as {{lang|de|Herr/Frau (Habsburg)}} in an official/public context, for instance in the media. Still, in both countries, honorary styles like "His/Her (Imperial/Royal) Highness", "Serenity", etc. persist in social use as a form of courtesy.

In [[Luxembourg]] and [[Liechtenstein]] (where German is the official language), barons remain members of the recognized nobility, and the sovereigns retain authority to confer the title ([[morganatic marriage|morganatic]] cadets of the princely dynasty received the title ''Baron of Lanskron'', using ''both'' {{lang|de|Freiherr}} and {{lang|de|Baron}} for different members of this branch.)<ref name="ghda">{{cite book |title=Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels Furstliche Hauser Band XVI |publisher=C.A. Starke Verlag |year=2001 |location=Limburg an der Lahn, Germany |pages=64 |isbn=3-7980-0824-8}}</ref>

Generally, all legitimate males of a German baronial family inherit the title {{lang|de|Freiherr}} or {{lang|de|Baron}} from birth, as all legitimate daughters inherit the title of {{lang|de|Freiin}} or {{lang|de|Baroness}}. As a result, German barons have been more numerous than those of such countries where [[primogeniture]] with respect to title inheritance prevails (or prevailed), such as France and the United Kingdom.