The Austrian nobility (de: Adel) was historically a privileged class in Austria. Noble families and their descendants are still a part of Austrian society today, but do no longer retain any specific privileges.
As most of modern Austria used to be part of the Holy Roman Empire, a very similar system of nobility applied as in what is today Germany. Furthermore, any noble living in the Habsburg-ruled lands, and who owned their allegiance to the dynasty and the Emperor of Austria, were also considered part of the Austrian aristocracy. This applies to any member of the Bohemian, Hungarian, Polish and other nobilities in the Habsburg dominion. Any differentiation can be quite confusing, especially for nobles during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Generally speaking though, Austrian nobility are considered those who today retain Austrian citizenship, whose family originally come from Austria, South Tyrol, Burgenland and southern Bohemia or who were ennobled under Austrian rule.
From 1453 onwards, the Archduke of Austria had the right to confer nobility on non-nobles, as did the Archbishop of Salzburg, which remained an independent territory. Beside the Holy Roman Emperor (an office which was almost uninterruptedly held by the Archduke of Austria from 1438 to 1806 anyway), only a few territoral rulers within the Empire had this right. In the era of Absolutism, the nobility residing in the cities slowly turned itself into the court-nobility (Hofadel). The service at the court became the primary goal of the nobility, which was an important ideal in the education and the interests. There was a close inner circle that was called the 100 Familien (100 families), who possessed enormous riches and lands, had great influence at the court and thus played an important role in politics and diplomacy.
After the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Habsburg rulers, who were Austrian Emperors from 1804 onwards, continued to elevate deserving indivuals to nobility until the end of the monarchy in 1918. Some of the noble families even earned themselves the right to be hereditary peers in the House of Lords (Herrenhaus) in the Parliament (Reichsrat) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Because of the Patent of Tolerance (Toleranzpatent), which was decreed in 1781 by Emperor Joseph II, Jewish bankers and later entrepreneurs and industrialists could also be ennobled for their services and loyalty. Jews who were elevated into the aristocracy were allowed to keep their religion, in effect becoming Jewish nobles. Although the elevation into the aristocracy meant recognition for the work and services, and a rise in social status, it could not hide the fact that Jews were for the large part still only being “tolerated”. Jews could not freely choose over place and duration of their stay and had to regularly ask for permission from the authorities. This placed a huge burden on Jewish families. If the head of the family passed away, all his relatives had to leave the city. Even the right to purchase real estate was forbidden to Jews, even if they belonged to the nobility. This regulation stayed in place until 1860, when it was abolished by Emperor Franz Joseph I and Jewish citizens given equal rights.
Despite these difficulties, by 1821 there were at least nine ennobled Jewish families living in Vienna. Their elevation was due to the industrial and economical contributions. Some of the very wealthy included the Rothschilds, Arnstein, Eskeles, Gomperz, Kuffner, Lieben, Auspitz, Schey von Koromla, Todesco and Wertheimstein families. For example in the case of the Rothschild’s and Todesco’s, the basis for their personal economic success was their quick ability to adjust and innovate to the changed global economic situation. They founded banks that financed companies and infrastructure projects in a time of great economic and industrial growth in the late 19th century. Their contributions made it possible that Austria-Hungary could keep up with the international economic developments.
The elevation into nobility also hastened the process of assimilation of Jewish families into the higher society. Many converted to Christianity in order to become fully accepted.
On the former status of nobility in Burgenland, which was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1921, see Hungarian nobility.
The Adelsaufhebungsgesetz of 1919 (Law on the Abolition of Nobility) abolished all noble privileges and, other than in Germany, also noble titles and names. Thus, no citizen of Austria can have any noble titles or even particles such as von and zu in his or her name. For example, the name of the grandson of the last Austrian emperor is simply Karl Habsburg. Similarly, Friedrich von Hayek became Friedrich Hayek and Kurt von Schuschnigg became Kurt Schuschnigg.
This may sometimes be confusing, as descendants of nobles are sometimes referred to with noble names abroad, even though this is not legally accurate with respect to Austrian citizens. Also, different members of noble families often hold different citizenships, such as in the case of Otto von Habsburg (the son of the last Austrian emperor and father of the Karl Habsburg mentioned above), who is a citizen of Germany, which is why the Austrian law does not apply to him. The law does not apply to artistic, performer's or "stage names," where the von is sometimes used, as in the case of conductor Herbert von Karajan or the musician Hubert von Goisern. However, stage names are never recognized for official purposes.
Especially members of the lower nobility (such as the civil servants) found this radical step of abolition degrading and humiliating, since working towards and finally earning a nobility title was a way for them and their families to rise within society. Member of the higher nobility were able to absorb the formal abolition easier. They lost their titles and their privileges, but still kept their social manners and were allowed to keep their riches. Federal President Michael Hainisch) called the official abolition:
"...childish, because it did not hit those that it was supposed to hit. I once talked to the very fine and very intelligent Princess Fanny Starhemberg about this. 'To us', she said, 'the official abolition is quite irrelevant, because with or without the titles, we will always remain the Starhembergs.'"
( ..ein kindisches Beginnen, schon deshalb, weil man gar nicht diejenigen traf, die man hatte treffen wollen. Ich sprach einmal mit der ebenso feinen wie klugen Fürstin Fanny Starhemberg über diesen Punkt. 'Uns', sagte sie, 'macht die Aufhebung des Adels nichts, wir bleiben mit oder ohne den Titel immer die Starhembergs.) [1]
The law was never repealed, not even during the period of Austrofascism (1934–1938). Following the Anschluss to Nazi Germany (1938–1945), this law remained active, although it was not enforced.
Although the noble titles and the particles von and zu are not officialy kept anymore, some persons are still referred to with their titles in a private function. For example, Karl Schwarzenberg will occasionally still be referred to as Fürst Schwarzenberg (Prince Schwarzenberg) in the media. And as opposed to nobility in Bohemia, Poland, or the former Prussian territories, the Austrian nobility never had its lands and riches confiscated. The nobility in the Czech Republic had their property restituted in 1992, if they were Czechoslovak citizens before 1938.
To many Austrians, the abolition of noble privileges and titles was and still is an important element of a democratic and republican state, where indivdiuals are treated equally and thus should hold any titles of honor solely by their individual merit. The abolition of noble titles has been replaced with an almost obsessive usage and fascination of academic titles and titles of office. Regardless, the nobility today are still treated sometimes a bit differently than ordinary citizens. Austrian nobility also featured in a large part of movies made after World War II (for example Sissi, Sound of Music), and are still featured regularly in the media and literature.
Apart from the loss of the titles, which hit the lower nobility harder more than the higher, most have fared remarkably well in modern Austria and still belong to some of the richest families, such as the Esterházy, Mayr-Melnhof, or Mautner-Markhof. Many members of the Austrian nobility today work in the traditional fields of diplomacy, politics, have business and financial interests, are philanthropists or socialites.
The number of Austrian nobles in 2005 was estimated to be around 20,000 members. An association was founded in 2005, the Vereinigung der Edelleute in Österreich (Association of Austrian Nobles, or V.E.Ö.). It sees itself as the successor of the Vereinigung katholischer Edelleute in Österreich, which was founded in 1922 and banned under the Nazis in 1938. Various attempts at revival were always blocked by the Austrian authorities until recently.
The Austrian nobility was divided up into two categories, the hoher Adel (higher nobility), and the niederer Adel (lower nobility). To the higher nobility belonged the princes and counts, the lower nobility was made up of the rest:
(German titles with English equivalents)
Non-ruling members of the imperial family were given the title Erzherzog/Erzherzogin (Archduke/Archduchess) and styled "Kaiserliche Hoheit" (Imperial Highness), or also "Kaiserliche und königliche Hoheit" (Imperial and Royal Highness).
Agnates of the imperial family, who were excluded from the line of succession, were created Herzog/Herzogin (Duke/Duchess) or Prince/Princess and addressed as "Hoheit" (Highness) or "Durchlaucht" (Serene Highness).
Below is a list of Austrian noble families, listed with by their titles. Note that some members of a family were sometimes given higher titles by the emperor, because of merit. Titles, styles, and rights were conferred only by the monarch. In some cases, they were even taken away again, because of fall from favour:
Because of the abolition of the prepositions, many families were forced to completely reinvent their family names. This brought in many complications. The following list of the non-Habsburg nobles shows the pre-1919 family names or preposition in brackets, followed by how it appears today. Noble families could have the preposition "von", "zu" or a combination of it ("von und zu"), non-German-speaking nobility however preferred to use the "de" such as in Bohemia, Hungary, and Galicia, as that was less germanic-sounding. As Austria-Hungary was a multiethnic empire, both versions could be used and were correct.
The style of address is "Durchlaucht". Also used was "Fürstliche Gnaden".
The style of address is, but not in all cases, "Erlaucht". Also used was "Gräfliche Gnaden".
No style, normal manner is "Gnädiger Herr", "Gnädige Frau", or "Gnädiges Fräulein".