Wohlgeboren

Wohlgeboren (German: [ˈvoːlɡəˌboːɐ̯n̩], lit. "well-born") was a form of address for the lowest ranks of German nobility. The Latin version of this term is "spectabilis".^[1]

German usage

The actual address was (Euer) Wohlgeboren,^[2] it is the proper form of address for a Vogt or Büttel

Swedish usage

"Välborne" for untitled Swedish nobility and "högvälborne" for counts and barons.^[3]

Higher form of address

The title should not be confused with the following, in order of increasing rank:

- (Euer) Hochwohlgeboren (lit. highly well-born), the form of address for German barons (Freiherren), nobles (Edle) and knights (Ritter) ;

- (Euer) Hochgeboren (lit. high-born'), the proper form of address for members of the titled German nobility, ranking just below the sovereign and mediatised dynasties;

- Erlaucht (Illustrious Highness), the correct address for those German immediate counts (Reichsgrafen) who are heirs of mediatised families of the Holy Roman Empire;

- Durchlaucht (Serene Highness), the correct address for German princes (Fürsten) and dukes (Herzog).

References

1. "Enthält: Ansichten des Landes, topographische Fragmente, Volk ..., Volume 1". 1819.
2. addressed strictly according to their social status from Euer Hochgeboren (literally 'high-born') for scions of high aristocracy, down to Euer Wohlgeboren (well-born) for mere bourgeois. J. Jahoda, A History of Social Psychology: From the Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment to the Second World War, Cambridge Press, 2007
3. "Adliga titlar : Riddarhuset".