[Northkeep] Classes at wInterKingdom
OttokarLuther at aol.com
OttokarLuther at aol.com
Wed Dec 8 22:06:54 PST 2004
If you are going to use the von thing do it with authority.
Probably more info than you want but being a German persona I had to put my
two Pfennige in.
Ottokar Luther v. Holstein
("Ein Mann ist nur ebenso gut als sein Wort, das mit seinem Schwert
unterstützt wird.")
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The basic designation of the nobility is the predicate "von", which the vast
majority of German nobles carry. There are a small number of noble houses,
almost exclusively of the Uradel, which have never used the "von" or any other
noble predicate, but are nevertheless of fully equal standing with those
that do.
In northern and eastern Germany there are a substantial number of families
(such as the von Kranichfelds) that use the "von" as designations of the towns
where they come from (as is the case with most older noble families) but have
never been noble and make no pretense to be so.
A few noble houses use "von und zu", meaning they are not only from the
place mentioned but still retain it. Another Uradel house is named "aus dem
Winckel" instead of "von dem Winckel" but having the same meaning. Other noble
predicates sometimes seen are "von dem", "von der", or "vom". "Van" is not used
by German nobles but is Dutch or Flemish and does not usually connote
nobility in those countries.
As a way of differentiating themselves from non-nobles, the aristocracy of
northern Germany in most cases uses the abbreviation "v.", instead of writing
out the "von", while still pronouncing the whole word. The southern Germans
most often write out the "von". It is always spelled with a small "v" unless it
would be grammatically incorrect, such as in the beginning of a sentence.
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