German honorifics


Honorifics are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was also made between married and unmarried women.

Honorific pronouns

Like many languages, German has pronouns for both familiar and polite forms of address. The polite equivalent of "you" is "Sie." Grammatically speaking, this is the 3rd-person-plural form, and, as a subject of a sentence, it always takes the 3rd-person-plural forms of verbs and possessive adjective/ pronouns, even when talking to only one person. Honorific pronouns are always capitalized except for the polite reflexive pronoun "sich." In letters, e-mails, and other texts in which the reader is directly addressed, familiar pronouns may be capitalized or not. In schoolbooks, the pronouns usually remain lowercased.
Declension of the polite personal pronoun "Sie":
Nominative case : Sie


Genitive case: Ihrer


Dative case: Ihnen
Declension of polite possessive adjectives:
Obsolete forms of honorific addresses:
In former times, the 2nd person plural or the 3rd person singular and their corresponding possessive adjectives and verb forms were used. The 3rd person plural as polite form of address as it is used today became standard during the 19th and 20th centuries.
For more details about German grammar, see the entries about the German language.

Sex and age

;Herr
;Frau
;Fräulein
;Dame
Using "Herr" for very young misters, certainly those below the age of 16, is rather awkward and often avoided by using the first name, or first name and last name. There used to be a direct equivalent to Fräulein, viz., Junker, but this word is now only used in describing a specific class and in the term Fahnenjunker, reflecting the tradition that only officers are Herren. Also, it never lost the touch of describing exclusively those of higher class, which was originally true of all the four mentioned above but has been lost by all of them.
Note that almost all other honorifics will be combined with a Herr or Frau respectively ; the contrary shall be noted as exceptions in the following.

Clergy

All clergy and ministers are usually called Herr plus the title of their office, e. g., Herr Pfarrer. Adjectival predicates are only used for Roman Catholic clergy, and then in the following order:
Whether Monsignors of the first degree are hochwürdigst or hochwürdig is a borderline case. The predicate hochwürdigst is sometimes also extended to other priests of certain high positions, but never for parish priests or for deans.
All these predicates are in increasingly sparing use, but especially Seine Gnaden and hochehrwürdig and wohlehrwürdig, followed by "Excellency" at least as far as auxiliary bishops are concerned. It is good style, though, to use them at least in all places where layfolk would be addressed as sehr geehrte, such as at the beginning of letters, speeches and so forth. The oft-seen abbreviation "H. H." means "hochwürdigster Herr".
It is incorrect to address an auxiliary bishop as "Herr Weihbischof"; he must be called Herr Bischof. Cardinals are always Herr Kardinal, never, for instance, Herr Erzbischof even if they are diocesan archbishops and are addressed as such.
The literal translation of "Monsignor" is Monsignore, but it is only usually used for Monsignors of the first degree, not for prelates as in English, or for bishops as in Italian. If used, protocol demands to leave away the usual Herr, but this is as uncommon in German that the incorrect phrase "Herr Monsignore" can often be heard.
Higher prelates are addressed Herr Prälat, or possibly with their office
Abbots are addressed Herr Abt or Vater Abt, abbesses Frau Äbtissin or Mutter Äbtissin. Other male religious are called Pater if priests and Frater if not, sometimes together with the surname, sometimes also with the first name. Female religious are called Schwester. This is not used together with both Herr/Frau and their name, though in the address, it is quite common to address a religious priest who does pastoral work in a parish orally as Herr Pater.
- The office of "Priester" taken simply is nb. never used as a title. In the usually brief period where a secular priest has no office that could be used in addressing him, the phrase "Herr Neupriester" is used; after retirement, the title Pfarrer can be kept if held at some point in their life. It is also quite common to address such priests with their academic rank, if they have some, or their civil-servant rank if they have some. Professors of theology are always addressed by their academic function.
Parochial vicars usually have the honorific title Kaplan, while actual chaplains as a rule have the in this case honorific title Pfarrer.

Nobility

The traditional honorifics for nobility are, in descending order,
The last one is now completely obsolete, as is the incorrect practice of elevating bourgeois notables to Hochwohlgeboren. But also Erlaucht, Hochgeboren, Hochwohlgeboren are increasingly rare. Austrian nobility is forbidden to attach honorifics to themselves or demand them.
The equivalent of a Baron is called Freiherr, though some "Barone" exist with foreign titles. Nevertheless, in address they are usually called "Baron", "Baronin", and "Baroneß". It is considered incorrect to attach Herr, Frau, Fräulein to "Baron" and so forth, except if the Baron in question is one's actual superior, though this appears often nevertheless. It certainly is incorrect to speak of "Herr Freiherr" and so forth, seeing that this is a doubling, so sometimes the phrase " Freiherr von Sonstwoher" is used.
It is likewise considered incorrect to attach Herr, Frau, Fräulein to Counts, unless the Count in question is one's actual superior, though again this still appears often

Academics

;Professor
;PD
;Doktor
;Magister
;Ingenieur
Doktor and Magistra are the only honorifics which can be combined not only with Frau but also with Fräulein. However, a practicioning female physician or attorney would be Frau Doktor if holding a doctorate; a Fräulein Doktor suggests an unmarried woman with a doctorate in an academic position.

Judiciary

The otherwise outdated use of calling people with Herr and their functions is in full vigour as far as courtrooms are concerned, where the participants will all the time be addressed as Herr Angeklagter, Herr Verteidiger, Herr Zeuge, Herr Kläger and so forth. Judges are Herr Richter, Herr Vorsitzender, Herr Vizepräsident or Herr Präsident, similarly the public prosecutors.

Military

The general address for soldiers is Herr plus their military rank, e. g., Herr Leutnant. If needed for distinction, the last name can be attached. Subordinates can alternatively be called with rank plus last-name. For soldiers who know each other, for Mannschaften among themselves, and also for an officer from the same unit to an enlisted soldier whom he knows personally, the rank can fall away except if the subordinate addresses the superior, but Herr is never attached to the last-name simply.
Superiors can alternatively call their enlisted subordinates by their function.
The NVA used Genosse instead of Herr. In the Imperial Army, the style of "Excellency" was appropriate for some high-ranking generals.
A direct equivalent to the frequent anglophone use of "Sir" does not exist.

Civil service (incl. teachers)

Civil servants used to be called with Herr or Frau plus their rank. This is in full vigour for police-officers, but otherwise somewhat outdated.
As teachers on public schools are, as a rule, civil servants, this is likewise true for teachers, with the exception that for teachers not the headmaster, it is perhaps even a bit more outdated to use their rank than for other civil servants.

Professions

It used to be the case that the name of professions was used as a honorific, together with Herr, e. g. Herr Schriftsteller, Herr Installateur and so forth. This is generally outdated.
Though there is a professional qualification called Meister, and there is also an outdated honorific called Meister, this was never a honorific specifically in use for master craftsmen.

Professial honorifics

In Austria - and in monarchical times also in Germany - the Head of State can give certain titles to people of notable achievements in their profession. These, again, are usually used with Herr and Frau respectively.
A well-known example is the Kommerzialrat , which denotes an entitled businessman. In the monarchies, there also was an "augmented" form of that, in this case Geheimer Kommerzialrat, generally received by adding the adjective "Geheim". This literally means "Privy Councillor" and is roughly the equivalent of a person knighted for their achievements.
Germany generally has not kept the practice, except for the fine arts. People who had received a title under the monarchies usually retained them until their death.
On the other hand, the distinction Hoflieferant was not strictly speaking a honorific, but implied the actual function of someone supplying a Court in at least a marginal rôle with some goods. Hoflieferant is now still attached to the companies who had received it under the monarchies, but no longer as previously to their proprietors in person.