Gotta wonder why German ships are all (or mostly) named with masculine names.
They named them after famous seamen and statesmen. Well, famous for them.
Incidentally Bismarck was also a prince, but the Fürst (Princeps, the sovereign of a principality) kind of prince (like the princes referred to by Machiavelli), and not the Prinz kind of prince (junior member of a sovereign house, including heirs to kings).
Incidentally Bismarck was also a prince, but the Fürst (Princeps, the sovereign of a principality) kind of prince (like the princes referred to by Machiavelli), and not the Prinz kind of prince (junior member of a sovereign house, including heirs to kings).
A Fürst is supposed to be a 'sovereign' ruler. A Prinz is the son (or further descendant) of a sovereign ruler, including a Fürst (or a King or Emperor or say, an Archduke). In English they all get translated as princes.
In practice due to the way the Holy Roman Empire worked (where the various principalities, counties and duchies were only nominally sovereign), a Fürst is pretty much just a rank of nobility below a Duke (Herzog), and above a Graf.
The Prince of a King (or even a Duke) would sort of outrank a Fürst. The problem is Prinz can refer to the sons of well, an Emperor, a King, a Duke or Archduke, or even a Fürst. Or even a further relative, like a great-great-grandson or something, if the title can be inherited.
Prince Eugene/Prinz Eugen was the great-grandson of a Duke of Savoy, which is how he got his title. The contemporary Duke of Savoy was his second cousin.
OMGkillitwithfire said: How are these two princes different?
The reason is kind of long-winded.
It has to do with how parts of the Holy Roman Empire (which includes Germany) handled titles. Most places did it by Primogeniture, which is the firstborn son (or brother/daughter) inheriting the family title. In Germany, anyone from that family could have legit claim to it. This meant a lot of people with the title of Prince. If you wanted to distinguish yourself, you had to add other titles which could lead to unwieldy names and other confusion.
So, the result was the establishment of the Furst (taken from the original origin of Princeps, or First Person) as being the exclusive title for those with direct connection to the Imperial Court (basically the answered only to the Emperor) while Prinz referred to anyone who is outside of this bound. But language being what it is, it has referred to everyone from Barons to Dukes (and the title itself has either been below just the King or the rank of Duke).
At least that's how I remember it, it was all complicated and poorly explained.
It has to do with how parts of the Holy Roman Empire (which includes Germany) handled titles. Most places did it by Primogeniture, which is the firstborn son (or brother/daughter) inheriting the family title. In Germany, anyone from that family could have legit claim to it. This meant a lot of people with the title of Prince. If you wanted to distinguish yourself, you had to add other titles which could lead to unwieldy names and other confusion.
So, the result was the establishment of the Furst (taken from the original origin of Princeps, or First Person) as being the exclusive title for those with direct connection to the Imperial Court (basically the answered only to the Emperor) while Prinz referred to anyone who is outside of this bound. But language being what it is, it has referred to everyone from Barons to Dukes (and the title itself has either been below just the King or the rank of Duke).
At least that's how I remember it, it was all complicated and poorly explained.
Ah, the wonders of the Holy Roman Empire. Which was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.
