Freiherr
Freiherr (which means in German Seignor libre) is a title formerly carried by the minor nobility in Germany, in the States Baltic and in Austria-Hungary and considered as equivalent with that of baron. When one addresses oneself to German Freiherr, one calls it “Mister the Baron”, although it is not the official title. Title draws its origin owing to the fact that freedom was attached to the ground and not to the man, which distinguished his owner at the same time from the ordinary barons, who were at the origin of the knights (Ritter), and of the peasants and the serfs. Usually the Freiherr exerted administrative laws and legal by delegation of the lord of the place, the Duc or the Count.
The wife of the Freiherr is called Freifrau (in German Dame libre), a girl of Freiherr is called Freiin (shortened form of Freiherrin).
Note concerning the use: the nobility is abolished in Germany since 1918; the titles are now regarded by the law as a simple part of family name and they can be or not be employed. They however preserve a great prestige in certain circles of the company.
The same title is employed in Sweden and to a certain extent with the Denmark (and in Norway) and in Finland; in the Scandinavian languages it is spelled friherre and vapaaherra in Finnish.
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