Editing Graf (section)

=={{lang|de|Reichsgraf}}==
{{main|Imperial Count}}
A {{lang|de|Reichsgraf}} was a [[nobility|nobleman]] whose title of ''count'' was conferred or confirmed by the [[Holy Roman Emperor]], and meant "Imperial Count", i.e., a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the [[feudalism|feudal]] era, any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under the [[Reichsfreiheit|immediate]] jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in the {{lang|de|[[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)#Princes|Reichstag]]}} came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" ({{lang|de|Hochadel}}) in Germany, along with princes ({{lang|de|[[Fürst]]en}}), dukes ({{lang|de|[[Herzog|Herzöge]]}}), electors ({{lang|de|[[prince-elector|Kurfürsten]]}}), and the emperor himself.<ref name="Velde">{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/hre.htm#Evolution |title=Evolution of the Council of Princes from 1582 to 1803 |work=Heraldica.org |access-date=2008-03-04 |last=Velde |first=François |date=2008-02-13 }}</ref> A count who was not a {{lang|de|Reichsgraf}} was likely to possess only a [[mesne]] [[fief]] ({{lang|de|[[Afterlehen]]}}) — he was subject to an immediate prince of the empire, such as a duke or [[prince elector]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

However, the Holy Roman Emperors also occasionally granted the title of {{lang|de|Reichsgraf}} to subjects and foreigners who did not possess and were not granted immediate territories — or, sometimes, any territory at all.<ref name="Velde"/> Such titles were purely [[honorific]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In English, {{lang|de|Reichsgraf}} is usually translated simply as ''count'' and is combined with a territorial suffix (e.g., [[Count of Holland]], [[Reuss (state)|Count Reuss]]) or a surname ([[Fugger|Count Fugger]], [[Maximilian Ulysses Browne|Count von Browne]]). Even after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the {{lang|de|Reichsgrafen}} retained precedence above other counts in Germany. Those who had been [[imperial immediacy|quasi-sovereign]] until [[German mediatisation]] retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning [[dynasty|dynasties]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Notable {{lang|de|Reichsgrafen}} have included:
* {{lang|de|[[Counts of Castell|Castell]]|italic=no}}
* {{lang|de|[[Fugger]]|italic=no}}
* {{lang|de|[[County of Henneberg|Henneberg]]|italic=no}}, a title merged into the imperial dignity
* {{lang|de|[[House of Leiningen|Leiningen]]|italic=no}}
* {{lang|de|[[Nassau-Weilburg]]|italic=no}} since 26 September 1366 (previously, simply {{lang|de|Graf}})
* {{lang|de|[[Pappenheim (state)|Pappenheim]]|italic=no}}
* {{lang|de|[[County of Stolberg|Stolberg]]|italic=no}}
* [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]] as a dominion of the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] crown

A complete list of {{lang|de|Reichsgrafen}} with immediate territories as of 1792 can be found in the [[List of Reichstag participants (1792)]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}