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38-551: Elsau is first mentioned in 1043 as Elnesouva . On 23 April 1398 Count Donat von Toggenburg , Herr zu Brettengow und Tavas donated the church of Elsow as benefice for the new Allerheiligenaltar at the grave of the Toggenburg family in the Rüti Monastery , for the salvation of the soul of his daughter Menta von Toggenburg who died shortly before, as well as further lands and goods in the present Weinland district of

76-751: A German carrying an aristocratic title as part of his name is not allowed to carry this title in her name. The Federal Administrative Court ( Verwaltungsgerichtshof ) in a similar case asked the European Court of Justice whether this Austrian regulation would violate the right of the European Union ; the European Court of Justice did not object to the Austrian decision not to accept the words Fürstin von as part of an Austrian woman's name. The German republic, under Article 109 of

114-470: A count of Toggenburg, possibly either Diethelm, or one Heinrich. According to the legend, the husband defenestrated his innocent wife on suspicion of adultery. She survived and lived as an anchoress in Fischingen. Her veneration there is attested for 1410. The early counts were in competition with St. Gallen Abbey , the bishops of Constance and the counts of Kyburg . The inheritance disputes motivated

152-570: A matter of courtesy to use them. The late Otto von Habsburg , in his childhood Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was styled Otto Habsburg-Lothringen in his post-1919 Austrian passport, and Otto von Habsburg in his German passport (he was a Member of the European Parliament for Germany). In 2003, the Constitutional Court ( Verfassungsgerichtshof ) ruled that an Austrian woman having been adopted by

190-481: Is a possible nobiliary particle , such as von , and might or might not be used by those bearing them. Female forms of titles have been legally accepted as a variation in the surname after 1919 by a still valid decision of the former German High Court ( Reichsgericht ). The distinguishing main surname is the name, following the Freiherr, Freifrau or Freiin and, where applicable, the nobiliary particle – in

228-487: Is far from obsolete. As with most titles and designations within the nobility in the German-speaking areas of Europe, the rank was normally hereditary and would generally be used together with the nobiliary particle of von or zu (sometimes both: von und zu ) before a family name. The inheritance of titles of nobility in most German-speaking areas was not restricted by primogeniture as

266-508: Is generally well educated. In Elsau about 80.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). There are 1143 households in Elsau. Elsau has an unemployment rate of 2.33%. As of 2005, there were 67 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 237 people are employed in

304-598: Is rendered in English as "Baron", although the title was derived separately in the two languages. Even in German, a Freiherr is often styled as and addressed by the more elegant, Latin equivalent "Baron" in social circumstances, although not the official title. Separately, in the 19th century some families of the Baltic German nobility who had historically carried the title of Freiherr were recognized by

342-590: Is the baronial title in Britain. Hence, the titles applied equally to all male-line descendants of the original grantee in perpetuity: All legitimate sons of a Freiherr shared his title and rank, and could be referred to as Freiherr . The wife of a Freiherr is titled Freifrau (literally "free lady"), and the daughter of a Freiherr is called Freiin (short for Freiherrin ). Both titles are translated in English as "Baroness". In Prussia and some other countries in northern Europe,

380-528: Is titled Friherreinde , and the daughters are formally addressed as Baronesse . With the first free Constitution of Denmark of 1849 came a complete abolition of the privileges of the nobility. Today titles are only of ceremonial interest in the circles around the monarchy of Denmark . In 1561, the Swedish king Eric XIV conferred the hereditary titles of count and vapaaherra ("baron") on some persons, not all of them nobles. This prerogative

418-547: Is why members of the same family can have different official last names. The original distinction from other barons was that a Freiherr ' s landed property was allodial instead of a fief . Barons who received their title from the Holy Roman Emperor are sometimes known as "Barons of the Holy Roman Empire" ( Reichsfreiherren ), in order to distinguish them from other barons, although

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456-642: The Old Zurich War over the succession. Friedrich VII was later buried in a chapel, the so-called Toggenburger Kapelle ( capella nova in latere monasterii de novo construxit ) given by his noble wife, Elisabeth Countess of Toggenburg , née von Mätsch. Elisabeth spent her last days in the Rüti Abbey, writing on 20 June 1442 that she had retreated there ( unser wesen gentzlich in dasselbe gotzhus got zuo dienende gezogen habe ) and desired her tomb to be with her husband's. On 11 June 1443 marauding troops of

494-581: The Tsardom of Russia as noble in the form of ukases additionally awarding the equivalent Russian title of Baron . When in 1919 privileges to members of dynastic and noble families were abolished by the constitution of the Weimar Republic and hence titles became part of the last name some members of the affected families chose to be officially named Freiherr while others preferred Baron to emphasize their Baltic-German heritage. This

532-535: The Weimar Constitution of 1919, legally transformed all hereditary noble titles into dependent parts of the legal surname . The former title thus became a part of the family name, and moved in front of the family name. Freiherr Hans von Schwarz , as a German citizen, therefore became Hans Freiherr von Schwarz . As dependent parts of the surnames ( " nichtselbständige Namensbestandteile " ) they are ignored in alphabetical sorting of names, as

570-791: The nobility lost recognition as a legal class in the newly created republics of Germany and Austria . The Republic of Austria abolished hereditary noble titles for its citizens by the Adelsaufhebungsgesetz of 3 April 1919 and the corresponding decree of the state government. The public use of such titles was and still is prohibited, and violations could be fined. Hans Freiherr von Schwarz , as an Austrian citizen, therefore lost his title of Freiherr von and would simply be named as Hans Schwarz in his Austrian passport. In practice, however, former noble titles are still used socially in Austria; some people consider it

608-411: The secondary sector and there are 42 businesses in this sector. 464 people are employed in the tertiary sector , with 102 businesses in this sector. As of 2007 55.2% of the working population were employed full-time, and 44.8% were employed part-time. As of 2008 there were 817 Catholics and 1633 Protestants in Elsau. In the 2000 census, religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From

646-631: The 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 39.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (17.4%), the FDP (14.7%) and the CSP (10.5%). The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.2%. The entire Swiss population

684-531: The Elector of Brandenburg had, as king of the originally exclusively extraterritorial Prussia even before that date, arrogated to himself the prerogative of ennoblement ). Some of the older baronial families began to use Reichsfreiherr in formal contexts to distinguish themselves from the new classes of barons created by monarchs of lesser stature than the Holy Roman Emperors, and this usage

722-673: The English baron in rank. The Duden orthography of the German language references the French nobility title of Baron , deriving from the Latin-Germanic combination liber baro (which also means "free lord"), as corresponding to the German "Freiherr"; and that Baron is a corresponding salutation for a Freiherr . The title Freiherr derives from the historical situation in which an owner held free ( allodial ) title to his land, as opposed "unmittelbar" ("unintermediated"), or held without any intermediate feudal tenure; or unlike

760-531: The German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire and in its various successor states, including Austria , Prussia , Bavaria , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , etc. Traditionally, it denotes the titled rank within the nobility above Ritter ( knight ) and Edler (nobility without a specific title) and below Graf ( count or earl ). The title superseded the earlier medieval form, Edelherr . It corresponds approximately to

798-785: The Old Swiss Confederacy devastated the monastery and desecrated the bodies of the nobles, including Count Friedrich VII whom they held responsible for the war with Zürich. 14 members of the family were buried in the Toggenburg vault in the church of the Rüti Abbey. Freiherr Freiherr ( German: [ˈfʁaɪˌhɛɐ̯] ; male, abbreviated as Frhr. ), Freifrau ( [ˈfʁaɪˌfʁaʊ] ; his wife, abbreviated as Frfr. , lit.   ' free lord ' or ' free lady ' ) and Freiin ( [ˈfʁaɪ.ɪn] , his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in

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836-517: The Realm's Herredag , later Riddarhuset . In 1561, King Eric XIV began to grant some noblemen the titles of count ( greve ) or baron ( friherre ). The family members of a friherre were entitled to the same title, which in time became Baron or Baronessa colloquially: thus a person who formally is a friherre now might use the title of "Baron" before his name, and he might also be spoken of as "a baron". However, after

874-410: The canton of Zürich, confirmed among others by Ruodolf von Bonstetten from Ustra . Elsau has an area of 8 km (3.1 sq mi). Of this area, 56.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 17.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In 1996 housing and buildings made up 10.9% of

912-552: The census, 59.7% were some type of Protestant, with 56.1% belonging to the Swiss Reformed Church and 3.6% belonging to other Protestant churches. 23.7% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 4.3% belonged to another religion (not listed), 2.4% did not give a religion, and 9.6% were atheist or agnostic. The historical population is given in the following table: The railway stations of Räterschen and Schottikon both lie within

950-406: The change of constitution in 1809, newly created baronships in principle conferred the dignity only in primogeniture. In the now valid Swedish Instrument of Government (1974) , the possibility to create nobility is eliminated; and since the beginning of the twenty-first century, noble dignities have passed from the official sphere to the private. In Denmark and Norway , the title of Friherre

988-536: The comital family is unclear. They are named for their ancestral seat, now known as Alt-Toggenburg , near Kirchberg, St. Gallen . The castle was built in the 10th or 11th century, and was destroyed in 1085 in a conflict with the Abbot of St. Gallen , later rebuilt and in 1226 given to St. Gallen Abbey by count Diethelm of Toggenburg. The family is attested from the early 13th century, as Toccanburg , later Tochimburc . Diethelm I (possible mention 1176, died 1205 or 1207)

1026-593: The donation of religious establishments in Bubikon , Rüti , Oberbollingen and Wurmsbach in the 1190s, and a fratricide by one Diethelm ( fl. 1209–36) of his brother Rudolf in 1226. On 23 April 1398 Count Donat von Toggenburg donated the church of Elsow as benefice for the new Allerheiligenaltar at the grave of the Toggenburg family , for the "salvation of the soul of his daughter Menta von Toggenburg" who had died shortly before. Count Fridrich von Toggenburg, Herr zu Brettengow und Tafas donated to "his own and

1064-487: The municipality of Elsau. Both stations are stops on line S35 of the Zürich S-Bahn . House of Toggenburg The counts of Toggenburg ( Grafen von Toggenburg ) ruled the Toggenburg region of today's canton of St. Gallen , Switzerland , and adjacent areas during the 13th to 15th centuries. A baronial family of Toggenburg is mentioned in the 11th and 12th centuries, but their genealogical connection to

1102-473: The ordinary baron, who was originally a knight ( Ritter ) in vassalage to a higher lord or sovereign, and unlike medieval German ministerials , who were bound to provide administrative services for a lord. A Freiherr sometimes exercised hereditary administrative and judicial prerogatives over those resident in his barony instead of the liege lord , who might be the duke ( Herzog ) or count ( Graf ). The German-language title of Freiherr

1140-630: The preceding example, the main surname is Schwarz and so alphabetically is listed under "S" . Similar titles have been seen in parts of Europe that have historically been dominated by Germany (in the cultural sense): the Baltic States, Austria–Hungary, Sweden, Finland and to some extent in Denmark–Norway. From the Middle Ages onward, each head of a Swedish noble house was entitled to vote in any provincial council when held, as in

1178-554: The salvation of his ancestors who were buried" (at the Rüti church ) "and where he also expects to be buried," the church, rights and lands ( Kirchwidem and Kirchensatz ) in Wangen in der March to the Rüti Abbey, sealed by Fridrich and the knights Herman von Landenberg, Johans von Bonstetten from Ustra and Herman von der Hochenlandenberg on 21 January 1407. In 1436, the death of the last count, Frederick VII, Count of Toggenburg , led to

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1216-505: The title as such was simply Freiherr . After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Reichsfreiherren did not belong to the noble hierarchy of any realm, but by a decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, their titles were nonetheless officially recognised. From 1806 the then independent German monarchies, such as Bavaria, Württemberg and Lippe could create their own nobility , including Freiherren (although

1254-469: The title of Freiherr was, as long as the monarchy existed, usually used preceding a person's given name (e.g. Freiherr Hans von Schwarz ). In Austria-Hungary and Bavaria , however, it would be inserted between the given name and the family name (e.g. Hans Freiherr von Schwarz ). After the First World War , the monarchies were abolished in most German-speaking areas of Europe, and

1292-479: The total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (6.1%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.5% of the area. As of 2007 15.4% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction. The municipality is located along both banks of the Eulach river. It consists of the villages of Elsau, Rümikon (mentioned in 829 as Rumaninchovun ), Räterschen and since 1922

1330-468: The villages of Unter- and Oberschottikon. Elsau has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 3,657. As of 2007, 11.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. As of 2008 the gender distribution of the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 14.5%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (93.0%), with Italian being second most common (1.3%) and Albanian being third (1.3%). In

1368-640: Was confirmed in the constitutional arrangements of 1625. All family members of vapaaherra (baronial) families were entitled to that same title, which in practice, came to mean that they were addressed as Paroni or Paronitar . The Finnish nobility shares most of its origins with Swedish nobility . In the beginning, they were all without honorific titulature, and known just as "lords". In subsequent centuries, while Finland remained an autonomous grand duchy , many families were raised in rank as counts, vapaaherra s, or as untitled nobles. Theoretically, all created vapaaherra families were given

1406-401: Was followed by Diethelm II (possible mention 1210, died c. 1230). Either of these was the beneficiary of the inheritance of a number of local noble families (among these Alt-Rapperswil ) in c. 1200 and adopted the title of comes (count) from 1209. In 1187, one Werner of Toggenburg became abbot of Einsiedeln . The legend of a Saint Ida of Toggenburg is recorded in 1481, making her the wife of

1444-484: Was of equal rank to that of Baron, which has gradually replaced it. It was instituted on 25 May 1671 with Christian V 's Friherre privileges. Today only a few Danish noble families use the title of Friherre and most of those are based in Sweden, where that version of the title is still more commonly used; a Danish Friherre generally is addressed as "Baron". The wife of a Danish or Norwegian Friherre

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