“von” is now just a name

The end of legal privileges for members of the aristocracy

Although the privileges extended to the Prussian nobility since the middle ages – including exemption from tax and the reservation of senior jobs in the government, Church and judiciary – had gradually been called into question and eroded since the Enlightenment, many remained into modern times. It was not until the General Prussian Land Law (1792) and the Napoleonic Code (after 1800) were enforced that Germans experienced equality before the law and the independence of the judiciary. Despite these advances, the majority of German states were headed by a hereditary prince until 1918 and aristocrats enjoyed informal precedence in the award of state and military appointments.

Whilst the Weimar Constitution from 1919 put an end to all noble prerogatives, it was not until 23 June 1920 that the Prussian Law on the Abolition of the Privileges of the Nobility removed the remaining aristocratic entitlements in Prussia. Henceforth, an aristocratic title was merely a name. Although the “Nobility Act” was adopted in many other German states, the proposal made in 1926 to expropriate the former ruling dynasties foundered on the lack of participation in the referendum conducted to decide the question.