This form of address originally had connections with the ability of a
Freiherr (
Baron) to bequeath a family
coat of arms and to hold landed property as
allodial instead of a
fief. The actual address is
Euer Hochwohlgeboren ("Your High Well-born") and is the correct form of address not only German
Freiherren but also
Ritter and
Edle. The title should not be confused with
(Euer) Hochgeboren. This title ranks higher than
Hochwohlgeboren and is the style of mediate
Grafen (
mediate Counts;
immediate counts or
Reichsgrafen are entitled to the address
Erlaucht) and those
Freiherren descending from the mediæval
Uradel. Another honorific title was
(Euer) Wohlgeboren which ranked lower than Hochwohlgeboren and was claimed by
Bourgeois notables. In the 19th century it became customary to address academic and other civil honoraries by this title, e.g., a number of letters to
Sigmund Freud are addressed to "
Hochwohlgeboren Prof. Dr. Sigmund Freud". It is commonly abbreviated in correspondence as: “I.I.H.H.” for married couples “I.H.” (=
Ihre Hochwohlgeboren) for women. “S.H.” (=
Seine Hochwohlgeboren) for men. == Swedish ==