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If you’re thinking about buying a noble title, there are a few important things to keep in mind. In Germany, it is possible to purchase a noble title, but you must have it officially recognized.
Buying a Noble Title: How to Become a Count or a Duke
Surely it’s appealing to suddenly be a count, duke, or baron. The internet makes it possible. Why not just buy a title of nobility? That’s how you can quickly join the nobility.
- Various websites offer you a range of titles of nobility for purchase. You can even get titles from England, France, or Russia.
- For example, if you visit the website noble-society.net, you can even acquire an Egyptian pasha title. This comes with a certificate of appointment, a brochure, and a coat of arms.
- On the Highland Titles website, you can become a lord or a lady. Here, you purchase a real mini-plot of land, which simultaneously grants you this title.
- The process is similar on the sealandgov.org website. Here, too, you purchase a small piece of land that entitles you to hold a noble title.
- Keep in mind, however, that this is purely symbolic. In Germany, for example, there is officially no longer any nobility. Such a title, if it still exists, can only be acquired through marriage or birth.
- Aristocratic titles still present in names today are part of the name and confer no privileges whatsoever.
Legal Information Regarding the Purchase of a Noble Title
Contrary to popular belief, purchasing a title of nobility is entirely legal. However, this does not make you a true noble. This would only be the case through marriage, adoption, or birth.
- You cannot purchase an existing title of nobility. You could only assume such a title through marriage or adoption. Children born into such a family also receive the existing title.
- Since the true nobility no longer exists in Germany, the titles of remaining noble families are now merely name suffixes.
- When you purchase a noble title, you are, strictly speaking, acquiring a stage name. Since the right to freely choose one’s name is enshrined in German law, you can also have this stage name entered in your passport.
- To do so, however, you generally must prove that you perform under this name and are known beyond your local area.
For example, if you use the stage name with the noble title as an author, registration would be possible.
- In principle, purchasing a noble title is really more of a bit of fun that anyone can treat themselves to without any problems. After all, it is not outwardly apparent whether the title is truly genuine or has simply been purchased.
