- published: 03 Dec 2011
- views: 9793
The Swedish nobility (Adeln) has historically been a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, and part of the so-called frälse (a derivation from Old Swedish meaning free neck). The archaic term for nobility, frälse, also included the clergy, a classification defined by tax exemptions and representation in the diet. Today, the nobility is very much part of modern Swedish society and do not maintain their former privileges although their family names, titles and coats of arms are still protected. The Swedish nobility consists of both "introduced" and "unintroduced" nobility, where the latter has not been formally "introduced" at the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset). The House of Nobility still maintains a fee for male members over the age of 18 e.g. for keeping of their common buildings in Stockholm.
Belonging to the nobility in present day Sweden may still carry some informal social privileges, and be of certain social and historical significance particularly among some groups. Sweden is however since long a modern democratic society and meritocratic practices are supposed to govern all appointments to state offices by law. No special privileges, in taxation or otherwise, are therefore given to any Swedish citizen based on family origins, the one exception being the Royal family and the position as head of state held by the monarch of Sweden. However, also this role is today, according to the instrument of government, ceremonial.
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