was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in German-speaking areas of Europe until the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. At its origin the literal meaning of the word in German was 'trusted advisor'; the word "geheim" (secret) implies that such an advisor could be trusted with the Monarch's secrets (similar to "secretary" in English being linguistically related to "secret"). The English-language equivalent is Privy Councillor. The office contributing to the state's politics and legislation had its roots in the age of absolutism from the 17th century onward, when a governmental administration by a dependent

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

was established similar to the French . A precursor was the ''

Reichshofrat The Aulic Council (; ; literally "Court Council of the Empire", sometimes abbreviated in academic writing as "RHR") was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the ''Reichskammergericht'' (Imperial Chamber Court). ...

'', a judicial body established by Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. In

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, the professional title of ''Hofrat'' (also ''Hofrath'', Court Councillor) has remained in use as an official title for deserved civil servants up to today. With the Empire's dissolution and the rise of

Constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...

in the aftermath of the French Revolution, the office of a became an honorific title conferred by the

German states The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

upon high officials, accompanied by the address '' Exzellenz''. During that period related titles no longer affiliated with an office arose, like , an award for outstanding contributions in the field of commerce and industry, or ', an award for outstanding contributions to medicine. The term is also used in combination with the word ''Ecke'' – , colloquially describing male pattern baldness at the 'edges' of the forehead (i.e. the upper 'corners' of the face). In the

Republic of Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

the title was officially abolished in 1919. In Germany, the title largely disappeared after the fall of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1918, when the various princely states of Germany were replaced by the constituent states of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, although ''Geheimräte'' continued to be appointed by the

Free State of Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total land area of Germany, and with over 13.08 million ...

. However, many honorees continued to use it, and the title , its abbreviation and related abbreviations (, and even ) appear in captions until the 1930s, such as used by the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture ...

.Mitglieder, welchen die Ehrengabe verliehen wurde
. ''Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics'' (February 1993). Berlin / Heidelberg: Springer. (print), 1432-0711 (online); vol. 156, no. 1–2. DOI 10.1007/BF01790506. p. XV

List of notable ''Geheimräte''

References

{{Authority control Legal history of Germany Government of the Holy Roman Empire

List of notable ''Geheimräte''

See also

References