''Geheimrat'' was the title of the highest advising officials at the Imperial, royal or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, 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. At its origin the literal meaning of the word in German was 'trusted advisor' - the word "geheim" (secret) implying 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 A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. 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 The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

was established similar to the French '' Conseil du Roi''. A precursor was the ''

Reichshofrat The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juris ...

'', a judicial body established by Emperor

Maximilian I of Habsburg Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Ele ...

. In Austria the professional title of ''Hofrat'' (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 in the aftermath of the French Revolution, the office of a ''Geheimrat'' became an honorific title conferred by the German states 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 the title was officially abolished in 1919. In Germany, the title largely disappeared after the fall of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1918, when the various princely states of Germany were replaced by the constituent states of the Weimar Republic, although ''Geheimräte'' continued to be appointed by the Free State of Bavaria. However, many honorees continued to use it, and the title Geheimrat, 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) (german: Bundesarchiv) 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 and t ...

.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

Notable ''Geheimräte''

Nicholas Remy Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its d ...

(1530–1616), title bestowed in 1575 by Duke

Charles III of Lorraine Charles III (18 February 1543 – 14 May 1608), known as ''the Great'', was Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, and Christina of Denmark. In 1545, his father died, and ...

Raimondo Montecuccoli Raimondo Montecuccoli (; 21 February 1609 – 16 October 1680) was an Italian-born professional soldier, military theorist, and diplomat, who served the Habsburg monarchy. Experiencing the Thirty Years' War from scratch as a simple footsoldier ...

(1609–1680), in 1660 by Emperor Leopold I * Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716), in 1678 by Duke John Frederick of Brunswick-Calenberg * Andrey Osterman (1686–1747), in 1721 by Emperor

Peter I of Russia Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

* Emerich de Vattel (1714–1767), in 1758 by Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony *

Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske cz, Matyáš František hrabě Chorinský svobodný pán z Ledské , noble family = House of Chorinsky (Chorinský)House of Ledske (Ledská) , house-type = Dynasty , father = Franz Karl Baron of Chorinsky and Led ...

(1720–1786), in 1778 by Empress regnant

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

of the Holy Roman EmpireÖsterreichische Staatsarchiv (ÖStA) (Austrian State Archives (ÖStA)); Allgemeines Adelsarchiv der österreichischen Monarchie (General Archive of Nobility of the Austrian Monarchy), Author: Karl Friedrich Benjamin Leupold, Publisher: Hoffmeister, Wien (Vienne), 1789, Volume 1, Issue 2, Page 179-184, in German. * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), in 1779 by Duke Charles Augustus of Saxe-Weimar * Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (1755–1830), in 1810 by King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria * Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855), * Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), in 1841 by King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

* Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (1793–1864), in 1856 by Emperor

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

Johann Gustav Stickel Johann Gustav Stickel (7 July 1805 – 21 January 1896) was a German theologian, orientalist and numismatist at Jena University. Biography Stickel was born in Eisenach in 1805. He went to school in Buttelstedt and in Weimar. In his youth he ...

(1805-1896), Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach * Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) * Heinrich von Stephan (1831–1897), in 1868 by King Wilhelm I of Prussia * Felix Draeseke (1835–1913), in 1906 by King

Frederick Augustus III of Saxony en, Frederick Augustus John Louis Charles Gustav Gregory Philip von Wettin , image = Friedrich August III van Saksen.jpg , caption = Frederick Augustus III (1914) , succession = King of Saxony , reign = 15 October 1904 – ...

Richard Assmann Richard Assmann (Anglicized spelling of the German name Richard Aßmann) (13 April 1845 in Magdeburg – 28 May 1918 in Gießen) was a German meteorologist and physician who was a native of Magdeburg. He made numerous contributions in high altitud ...

(1845–1918), by German emperor King

Wilhelm II of Prussia Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

* Felix Klein (1849–1925) *

Ignaz Bing Ignaz Bing (January 29, 1840 - March 24, 1918) was a German-Jewish industrialist, naturalist, poet, and memoirist. Life and career The brothers Ignaz Bing and Adolf Bing were the children of Bela Levi (later Babette Tuchmann) and Saloman B ...

(1840–1918), industrialist and naturalist, Geh. Kommerzienrat *

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

(1851–1930), by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia * Friedrich Loeffler (1852–1915), by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia *

Georg von Schanz Georg von Schanz (12 March 1853 – 19 December 1931) was a German legal scholar. He originally developed a definition of income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is gen ...

(1853–1931), in 1914 by King Ludwig III of Bavaria * Emil Adolf von Behring (1854–1917), in 1903 by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia * Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), in 1911 by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia *

Ferdinand Tönnies Ferdinand Tönnies (; 26 July 1855 – 9 April 1936) was a German sociologist, economist, and philosopher. He was a significant contributor to sociological theory and field studies, best known for distinguishing between two types of social gro ...

(1855–1936), in 1917 by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia *

Theodor Curtius ''Geheimrat'' Julius Wilhelm Theodor Curtius (27 May 1857 – 8 February 1928) was professor of Chemistry at Heidelberg University and elsewhere. He published the Curtius rearrangement in 1890/1894 and also discovered diazoacetic acid, hydra ...

(1857–1928), in 1895 by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia * Max Planck (1858–1947), by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia * Alfred Hugenberg (1865–1951), by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia *

Leo Maximilian Baginski Leo Maximilan Baginski, known as Max Baginski (born June 7, 1891 in Kolmar (now Chodzież), Province of Posen; died March 19, 1964 in Locarno, Switzerland) was a German entrepreneur, inventor and marketing specialist. He invented the „Spalt� ...

(1891–1964), in 1919 by Prince Albert of Thurn and Taxis *

August Bier August Karl Gustav Bier (24 November 1861 – 12 March 1949) was a German surgeon. He was the first to perform spinal anesthesia and intravenous regional anesthesia. Early medical career Bier began his medical education at the Charité – Uni ...

(18611949), by German emperor King Wilhelm II of Prussia * Ferdinand Sauerbruch (1875–1951) * Gottfried von Schmitt (1827-1908), title given in 1888 by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria *

Josef von Schmitt Josef Ritter von Schmitt (born 4 March 1838 – 16 April 1907) was a Bavarian politician and prominent jurist, who served as the 14th President of Upper Franconia from the turn of the century until his death in 1907. A prominent figure in Ba ...

(1838-1907), title given in 1896 by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria

References

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

Notable ''Geheimräte''

See also

References