View source for Junker (Prussia)

{{Short description|Member of the landed nobility}}
{{About|the informal term for the noble class in modern Prussian history|the noble honorific|Junker{{!}}''Junker''|other uses|Junker (disambiguation)}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{langr|de|Junker|cat=no}} (Prussia)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C06886, Paul v. Hindenburg.jpg|223px|thumb|alt=photo of {{langr|de|von Hindenburg}} seated|{{langr|de|[[Paul von Hindenburg]]}} was born into a wealthy {{langr|de|Junker}} family.]]
The '''{{langr|de|Junkers}}''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ʊ|ŋ|k|ər}} {{respell|YUUNG|kər}}; {{IPA|de|ˈjʊŋkɐ|lang}}) were members of the [[landed nobility]] in [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Alan J. P. Taylor|title=The Course of German History: a survey of the development of German history since 1815|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxJrcgnMh5wC&pg=PA20|year=2001|publisher=[[Routledge]]|page=20|isbn=9780415255585}}</ref> These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after{{nbsp}}1871, [[German Empire|German]] military, political and diplomatic leadership. One of the most famous {{langr|de|Junkers}} was Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck|{{langr|de|Otto von{{nbsp}}Bismarck|cat=no}}]].{{zwj}}<ref>Francis Ludwig Carsten, ''A History of the Prussian Junkers'' (1989).</ref> Bismarck held power in Germany from 1871{{nbsp}}to 1890 as [[Chancellor of the German Empire]]; he was dismissed by [[Kaiser Wilhelm II|{{langr|de|Kaiser Wilhelm{{nbsp}}II|cat=no}}]].{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bismarck a Life|last=Jonathan|first=Steinberg|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2011|isbn=978-0-19-978252-9}}</ref>
  
Many {{langr|de|Junkers}} lived in [[Former eastern territories of Germany|the eastern provinces]] that were annexed by either [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]] or the [[Soviet Union]] after [[World War II|World War{{nbsp}}II]]. {{langr|de|Junkers}} fled or were expelled alongside other German-speaking populations by the incoming Polish{{nbsp}}and Soviet administrations, and their lands were confiscated. In western and southern{{nbsp}}Germany, the land was often owned by small independent farmers or a mixture of small farmers and estate owners, and this system was often contrasted with the dominance of the large estate owners of the east. Before World War{{nbsp}}II, the dividing line was often drawn at the river{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|[[Elbe]]}}, which was also roughly the western boundary of Slavic settlement by the [[Wends]] in the so-called [[Germania Slavica|{{lang|de|Germania{{nbsp}}Slavica|cat=no}}]] prior to {{lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}. The term for the {{langr|de|Junker}}-dominated{{nbsp}}East was thus {{lang|de|[[Ostelbien]]}}, or {{gloss|East{{nbsp}}Elbia}}. They played a prominent role in repressing the [[Liberalism in Germany|liberal movement in Germany]], and were often described as [[reactionary]].

==Origins==
{{Further information|Junker}}
{{lang|de|Junker}} is derived from [[Middle High German]] {{lang|gmh|Juncherre}}, meaning {{gloss|young nobleman}}{{zwj}}<ref name="DDN1">[[Duden]]; Meaning of Junker, in German. [http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Junker]</ref> or otherwise {{gloss|young lord}} (a derivation from {{wikt-lang|de|jung}}{{nbsp}}and [[Herr (title)|{{lang|de|Herr|cat=no}}]]), and originally was the title of members of the higher {{lang|de|[[edelfrei]]}} ([[Imperial immediacy|immediate]]) nobility without or before the [[accolade]]. It evolved to a general denotation of a young or lesser noble, often poor and politically insignificant, understood as "country [[squire]]" ({{cf.}} [[Martin Luther|{{langr|de|Martin Luther|cat=no}}'s]] disguise as "{{langr|de|Junker Jörg}}" at the{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|[[Wartburg]]}}; he would later mock [[King Henry VIII of England|King Henry{{nbsp}}VIII of England]] as "{{langr|de|Juncker Heintz}}"{{zwj}}<ref>Henry VIII: September 1540, 26–30', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16: 1540–1541 (1898), p. 51. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76214 Date accessed: 10 June 2012</ref>). As part of the nobility, many {{langr|de|Junker}} families only had [[prepositions]] such as {{lang|de|[[von]]}} or [[Nobiliary particle|{{lang|de|zu|cat=no}}]] before their family names without further ranks. The abbreviation of the title is {{langr|de|Jkr.}}, most often placed before the given name and titles, for example: {{langr|de|Jkr. Heinrich von{{nbsp}}Hohenberg}}. The female equivalent {{lang|de|Junkfrau}}{{nbsp}}({{langr|de|Jkfr.}}) was used only sporadically. In some cases, the [[honorific]] {{langr|de|Jkr.}} was also used for {{lang|de|[[Freiherren]]}}{{nbsp}}(barons) and {{lang|de|[[Grafen]]}}{{nbsp}}(counts).

A good number of poorer {{langr|de|Junkers}} took up careers as soldiers ([[Fahnenjunker]]), mercenaries, and officials ({{ill|Hofjunker|de}}, [[Kammerjunker]]) at the court of [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire|territorial princes]]. These families were mostly part of the German medieval {{lang|de|[[Uradel]]}} and had carried on the colonisation and [[Christianisation]] of the northeastern European territories during the {{lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}. Over the centuries, they had become influential commanders and landowners, especially in the lands east of the{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|[[Elbe]]}} in the [[Kingdom of Prussia]].{{zwj}}<ref>William W. Hagen, ''Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</ref>

As landed aristocrats, the {{langr|de|Junkers}} owned most of the arable{{nbsp}}land in Prussia. Being the bulwark of the ruling [[House of Hohenzollern|House{{nbsp}}of {{langr|de|Hohenzollern|cat=no}}]], the {{langr|de|Junkers}} controlled the [[Prussian Army]], leading in political influence and [[social status]], and owning immense estates worked by [[tenant farmer|tenants]]. These were located especially in the north-eastern{{nbsp}}half of Germany (i.e. the Prussian provinces of [[Province of Brandenburg|{{langr|de|Brandenburg|cat=no}}]], [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Pomerania]], [[Province of Silesia|Silesia]], [[West Prussia]], [[East Prussia]], and [[Province of Posen|{{langr|de|Posen|cat=no}}]]). This was in contrast to the predominantly [[Southern Germany|Catholic southern states]] such as the [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Kingdom{{nbsp}}of {{langr|de|Bavaria|cat=no}}]] or the [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Grand Duchy{{nbsp}}of {{langr|de|Baden|cat=no}}]], where land was owned by small farms, or the mixed agriculture of the western states like the [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Grand Duchy{{nbsp}}of {{langr|de|Hesse|cat=no}}]] or even the Prussian [[Rhine Province|Rhine]] and [[Province of Westphalia|Westphalian]]{{nbsp}}provinces.{{zwj}}<ref>Hagen, ''Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840'' (2007)</ref>

{{langr|de|Junkers}} formed a tightly-knit elite. Their challenge was how to retain their dominance in an emerging modern state with a growing middle and working class.

==Modern influences==
[[File:Neudeck.jpg|thumb|340x340px|alt=black-and-white photo of manor house|{{wikt-lang|de|Rittergut}} {{langr|de|Neudeck}}, East Prussia (today [[Ogrodzieniec, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship|{{langr|pl|Ogrodzieniec|cat=no}}]], [[Poland]]), presented to German President {{langr|de|[[Paul von Hindenburg]]}} in 1928]]
The {{langr|de|Junkers}} held a virtual monopoly on all [[Agriculture in Germany|agriculture]] in the part of the [[German Reich|German{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|Reich|cat=no}}]] lying east of the [[River Elbe|River{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|Elbe|cat=no}}]]. Since the {{langr|de|Junker}} estates were necessarily inherited by the eldest son alone, younger sons, all well-educated and with a sense of noble ancestry, turned to the civil and military services, and dominated all higher civil offices, as well as the officer corps. Around{{nbsp}}1900 they modernised their farming operations to increase productivity. They sold off less-productive land, invested more heavily in new breeds of [[cattle]] and [[pig]]s, used new [[fertiliser]]s, increased grain production, and improved productivity per worker. Their political influence achieved the imposition of high [[tariffs]] that reduced competition from imported grain and{{nbsp}}meat.{{zwj}}<ref>Torp, 2010)</ref>

During [[World War I]], [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]]{{nbsp}}MP [[Tom Kettle]] compared the [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] landlord{{nbsp}}class to the Prussian {{langr|de|Junkers}}, saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in Europe and for {{langr|de|junker}}dom in Ireland."{{zwj}}<ref>Tim Cross (1988), ''The Lost Voices of World War I'', p. 42.</ref>

Their political influence extended from the [[German Empire]] of 1871–1918 through the [[Weimar Republic|{{langr|de|Weimar|cat=no}} Republic]] of{{nbsp}}1919–1933. It was said that "if Prussia ruled Germany, the {{langr|de|Junkers}} ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself".{{zwj}}<ref>Frederic Austin Ogg, ''The Governments of Europe'' (1920), p. 681</ref> A policy known as {{lang|de|[[Osthilfe]]}} ({{gloss|Help for the East}}) granted {{langr|de|Junkers}} 500{{nbsp}}million {{langr|de|[[Reichsmarks]]}} in subsidies (equivalent to €{{Format price|{{Inflation|DE|500000000|1927|r=-7}}}} in {{Inflation/year|DE}}; US${{Format price|{{ToUSD|{{Inflation|DE|500000000|1927}}|DEU|year={{Inflation/year|DE}}|r=-8}}}}{{zwj}}{{Inflation/fn|DE}}) to help pay for certain debts and to improve equipment.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111heil.html|title=Heilig|website=history.hanover.edu|access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref> {{langr|de|Junkers}} continued to demand and receive more and more subsidies, which gave them more money in their pockets, thus resulting in political power. {{langr|de|Junkers}} exploited a monopoly on grain by storing it to drive up the price. This increased wealth aided them in maintaining control over political offices. {{langr|de|Junkers}} were able to force people to continue paying more money for their product, while keeping who they wanted in office.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111heil.html|title=Heilig|website=history.hanover.edu|access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref> Through the controlling of politics behind a veil, {{langr|de|Junkers}} were able to influence politicians to create a law that prohibited collecting of debts from agrarians, thus pocketing even more money and strengthening their power.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111heil.html|title=Heilig|website=history.hanover.edu|access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref>

{{Conservatism in Germany|Related}}
Supporting [[monarchism]] and military traditions, {{langr|de|Junkers}} were seen as [[reactionary]], [[anti-democratic]], and [[protectionist]] by [[Liberalism in Germany|liberals]] and [[Socialism in Germany|socialists]], as they had sided with the [[Conservatism in Germany|conservative]] and monarchist forces during the [[German revolutions of 1848–1849]]. Their political interests were served by the [[German Conservative Party]] in the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|{{langr|de|Reichstag|cat=no}}]] and the extraparliamentary [[Agriculturists' League]] ({{lang|de|[[Bund der Landwirte]]}}). This political class held tremendous power over industrial classes and government alike, especially through the [[Prussian three-class franchise|Prussian three-class{{nbsp}}franchise]]. When German chancellor [[Leo von Caprivi|{{langr|de|Leo von{{nbsp}}Caprivi|cat=no}}]] in the{{nbsp}}1890s reduced protective [[Duty (tax)|duties]] on imports of grain, these landed magnates demanded and obtained his dismissal; and [[German tariff of 1902|in{{nbsp}}1902]], they brought about a restoration of these higher duties on foodstuffs.

"{{langr|de|Junker}}" acquired its current and often [[wikt:pejorative|pejorative]] sense during the 19th-century disputes over the domestic policies of the German{{nbsp}}Empire.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The European Nobilities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries |publisher=Basingstoke |year=2007 |editor-last=Scott |editor-first=H.M. |volume=2 |location=UK |pages=118–119}}</ref> The term was used by sociologists such as {{langr|de|[[Max Weber]]}} and was even adopted by members of the landed class themselves. Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck|{{langr|de|Otto von{{nbsp}}Bismarck|cat=no}}]] was a noted {{langr|de|Junker}}, though [[House of Bismarck|his family]] hailed from the {{langr|de|[[Altmark]]}} region west of the{{nbsp}}{{langr|de|Elbe}}. After World War{{nbsp}}I many Prussian agriculturists gathered in the [[national conservative]] [[German National People's Party]]{{nbsp}}(DNVP). The term was also applied to {{lang|de|Reich}}{{nbsp}}President [[Paul von Hindenburg|{{langr|de|Paul von{{nbsp}}Hindenburg|cat=no}}]], lord of [[Ogrodzieniec, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship|{{langr|de|Neudeck|cat=no}}]] in West{{nbsp}}Prussia, and to the "{{langr|es|[[camarilla]]}}" around him urging the appointment of {{langr|de|[[Adolf Hitler]]}} as [[Chancellor of Germany]]—personified by men like {{langr|de|von{{nbsp}}Hindenburg}}'s son [[Oskar von Hindenburg|{{langr|de|Oskar|cat=no}}]] and his West{{nbsp}}Prussian "neighbour" [[Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau|{{langr|de|Elard von{{nbsp}}Oldenburg-Januschau|cat=no}}]], who played central roles in the {{lang|de|[[Osthilfeskandal]]}} of{{nbsp}}1932/33.

Many [[World War II]] [[Generalfeldmarschall#Nazi Germany|field marshals]] were also members of the {{langr|de|Junkers}}, most notably [[Gerd von Rundstedt|{{langr|de|Gerd von{{nbsp}}Rundstedt|cat=no}}]], [[Fedor von Bock|{{langr|de|Fedor von{{nbsp}}Bock|cat=no}}]], and [[Erich von Manstein|{{langr|de|Erich von{{nbsp}}Manstein|cat=no}}]]. Many {{langr|de|Junkers}} used [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labourers]] from [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Poland]] and the [[Soviet Union]].{{zwj}}<ref>Naimark, Norman M. (1995). ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949''. Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 145.</ref> However, [[Helmuth James Graf von Moltke|{{langr|de|Helmuth James Graf von{{nbsp}}Moltke|cat=no}}]] formed the [[Kreisau Circle|{{langr|de|Kreisau|cat=no}} Circle]] as part of the [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance to Nazi rule]], and as World War{{nbsp}}II turned against Nazi Germany, several senior {{langr|de|Junkers}} in the {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]}} participated in Colonel [[Claus von Stauffenberg|{{langr|de|Claus von{{nbsp}}Stauffenberg|cat=no}}'s]] [[20 July plot]].{{zwj}}{{Clarify|date=August 2009}} Fifty-eight of them either were executed when the plot failed,{{zwj}}<ref>MacDonogh, p. 204</ref> among them [[Erwin von Witzleben|{{langr|de|Erwin von{{nbsp}}Witzleben|cat=no}}]] and [[Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort|{{langr|de|Heinrich Graf von{{nbsp}}Lehndorff-Steinort|cat=no}}]], or committed suicide like [[Henning von Tresckow|{{langr|de|Henning von{{nbsp}}Tresckow|cat=no}}]]. During the advance of the [[Red Army]] in the closing months of the war, and subsequently, [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|most {{langr|de|Junkers|cat=no}} had to flee]] from the [[Former eastern territories of Germany|eastern territories]] that were turned over to the re-established [[Polish People's Republic|Republic{{nbsp}}of Poland]] with the implementation of the [[Oder–Neisse line|{{langr|de|Oder–Neisse|cat=no}}{{nbsp}}line]] according to the [[Potsdam Agreement|{{langr|de|Potsdam|cat=no}} Agreement]].

==<i lang="de">Bodenreform</i>==
[[File:Wolfshagen Bodenreform Denkmal.jpg|thumb|alt=photo of plow sculpture|1985 {{lang|de|Bodenreform}} memorial in [[Uckerland|{{langr|de|Wolfshagen|cat=no}}]], {{langr|de|[[Uckermark]]}}]]
After World War II, during the communist {{ill|Bodenreform|de|italic=y}} (land reform) of September{{nbsp}}1945 in the [[Soviet occupation zone in Germany|Soviet Occupation Zone]], later [[East Germany]], all private property exceeding an area of {{convert|100|ha|acre|abbr=off|lk=in}} was expropriated, and then predominantly allocated to 'New{{nbsp}}Farmers' on condition that they continued farming them. As most of these large estates, especially in {{langr|de|[[Brandenburg]]}} and [[Western Pomerania]], had belonged to {{langr|de|Junkers}}, the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]{{nbsp}}(SED) promoted their plans with East German President [[Wilhelm Pieck|{{langr|de|Wilhelm Pieck|cat=no}}'s]] slogan {{lang|de|Junkerland in Bauernhand!}} ({{gloss|{{lang|de|Junker|cat=no}} land into farmer's hand!}}).{{zwj}}<ref>Naimark, Norman M. (1995). ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949''. Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 143.</ref> The former owners were accused of [[German war crimes|war crimes]] and involvement in the Nazi{{nbsp}}regime by the [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany|Soviet Military Administration]] and the SED, with many of them being arrested, brutally beaten and interned in [[NKVD special camps in Germany 1945–1950|NKVD special camps]] ({{lang|de|Speziallager}}), while their property was plundered and the [[manor house]]s demolished. Some were executed. Many women [[Rape during the occupation of Germany|were raped]].{{zwj}}<ref>Naimark, Norman M. (1995). ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949''. Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 86.</ref> From{{nbsp}}1952 these individual farms were pressured by a variety of means to join together as [[Collective farming|collectives]] and incorporated into {{lang|de|[[Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften]]}} ({{gloss|agricultural production comradeships}}, LPG) or [[nationalised]] as {{lang|de|[[Volkseigene Güter]]}} ({{gloss|publicly owned estates}}, VEG).{{zwj}}{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

After [[German reunification]], some {{langr|de|Junkers}} tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but the German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed claims to full compensation, confirming the legal validity of the terms within the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany]] (Two Plus Four Agreement) (and incorporated into the [[Basic Law of the Federal Republic]]), by which expropriations of land under Soviet occupation were irreversible. The last decisive case was the unsuccessful lawsuit of [[Ernst August von Hannover (born 1954)|Prince {{langr|de|Ernst August|cat=no}} of{{nbsp}}Hanover]] in September{{nbsp}}2006, when the [[Federal Administrative Court (Germany)|Federal Administrative Court]] decided that the prince had no right to compensation for the [[wikt:disseized|disseized]] estates of the [[House of Hanover]] around [[Blankenburg Castle (Harz)|{{langr|de|Blankenburg|cat=no}} Castle]] in {{langr|de|[[Saxony-Anhalt]]}}. Other families, however, have quietly purchased or leased back their ancestral homes from the current owners{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-prussians-are-coming/#.UkfRjNJ_6Sp
|title=The Prussians are coming
|first= Roger
|last= Boyes
|quote=Last year [in] the east German state of Brandenburg... I came across half a dozen members of the Prussian diaspora{{mdash}}their parents had fled the communists in 1945 and settled in West Germany{{mdash}}who had become wealthy (an eye surgeon, a gallery owner, a banker) and returned to buy back and restore their crumbling ancestral homes.
|date=January 26, 2011
|access-date=2013-09-29
}}</ref> (often the German federal government in its role as trustee). A petition for official rehabilitation of the ousted landowners was rejected by the German {{langr|de|[[Bundestag]]}} in{{nbsp}}2008.{{zwj}}{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

==Notable <span lang="de">Junkers</span>==
{{div col|colwidth = 20em}}
{{langr|de|
* [[Otto von Bismarck]]
* [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]]
* [[Manfred von Richthofen]]
* [[Paul von Hindenburg]]
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]]
* [[Christoph II von Dohna]]
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz]]
* [[Alfred von Waldersee]]
* [[Alfred von Schlieffen]]
* [[Werner von Siemens]]
* [[Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal]]
* [[Josias von Heeringen]]
* [[Heinrich von Kleist]]
* [[Joseph von Eichendorff]]
* [[Ferdinand von Schill]]
* [[Hans Joachim von Zieten]]
* [[Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg]]
* [[Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein]]
* [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder]]
* [[Helmuth von Moltke the Younger]]
* [[Gustav von Wangenheim]]
* [[Alexander von Linsingen]]
* [[Franz von Hipper]]
* [[Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer]]
* [[Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord]]
* [[Claus von Stauffenberg]]
* [[Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel]]
* [[Günther von Reibnitz]]
* [[Alfred von Tirpitz]]
* [[Erich von Falkenhayn]]
* [[August von Mackensen]]
* [[Henning von Tresckow]]
* [[Walter von Brauchitsch]]
* [[Fedor von Bock]]
* [[Oskar von Hindenburg]]
* [[Wilhelm von Leeb]]
* [[Erich von Manstein]]
* [[Hans-Jürgen von Arnim]]
* [[Hermann von Eichhorn]]
* [[Otto Liman von Sanders]]
* [[Helmuth James Graf von Moltke]]
* [[Wolfram von Richthofen]]
* [[Peter Yorck von Wartenburg]]
* [[Marion Dönhoff|Marion von Dönhoff]]
* [[Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau]]
* [[Veruschka von Lehndorff]]
* [[Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck]]
* [[Kurt von Schleicher]]
* [[Hans von Seeckt]]
* [[Bernhard von Bülow]]
* [[Alexander von Kluck]]
* [[Werner von Blomberg]]
* [[Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk]]
* [[Eberhard von Mackensen]]
* [[Wernher von Braun]]
* [[Walther von Reichenau]]
* [[Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach]]
* [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]]
* [[August von Gneisenau]]
* [[Carl von Clausewitz]]
* [[Albrecht von Roon]]
* [[Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein]]
* [[Eugen Anton Theophil von Podbielski]]
* [[Adolf Wild von Hohenborn]]
* [[Erwin von Witzleben]]
* [[Job von Witzleben (historian)]]
* [[Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen]]
* [[Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz]]
* [[Gottfried Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen]]
* [[Wessel Freytag von Loringhoven]]
* [[Günther von Kluge]]
* [[Ernst von Weizsacker]]
* [[Ulrich von Hassell]]
* [[Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort]]
* [[Georg von Derfflinger]]
* [[Erich von Drygalski]]
* [[Ludwig von Wolzogen]]
* [[Rudolf von Bennigsen]]
* [[Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz]]
* [[Remus von Woyrsch]]
* [[Gerd von Rundstedt]]
* [[Lothar von Richthofen]]
* [[Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist]]
* [[Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach]]
* [[Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg]]
* [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]]
* [[Franz von Papen]]
* [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]
* [[Franz Pfeffer von Salomon]]
* [[Werner von Fritsch]]
* [[Baldur von Schirach]]
* [[Claus von Bülow]]
* [[Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg]]
* [[Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach]]
* [[Konstantin von Neurath]]
* [[Richard von Weizsacker]]
* [[Maximilian von Weichs]]
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau]]
* [[Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]]
* [[Georg von Hertling]]
* [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]]
* [[Hans-Georg von Friedeburg]]
* [[Robert Ritter von Greim]]
* [[Adolf von Baeyer]]
}}
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* {{anl|Baltic Germans}}
* {{anl|Gentry}}
* {{anl|German nobility}}
* {{anl|East Elbia}}
* {{lang|nl|[[Jonkheer]]}}, the Dutch [[cognate]] and rough equivalent
* [[Junker Party|{{langr|sv|Junker|cat=no}} Party]], 19th-century Swedish political movement

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. "Voter, Junker, Landrat, Priest: The Old Authorities and the New Franchise in Imperial Germany," ''American Historical Review'' (1993) 98#5 pp.&nbsp;1448–1474 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2167062 in JSTOR]
* Carsten, Francis Ludwig.  ''A history of the Prussian Junkers'' (1989).
* Hagen, William W. ''Ordinary Prussians – Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500–1840'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007) 
* MacDonogh, Giles, ''After the Reich'', Basic Books, (2007) {{ISBN|0-465-00337-0}}.
* Ogg, Frederick Austin, ''The Governments of Europe'', MacMillan Company, 1920.
* Ogg, Frederic Austin. ''Economic Development of Modern Europe'', Chap. IX (bibliography, pp.&nbsp;210–211).
* Stienberg, Jonathan. ''Bismarck a Life'', Oxford University Press, 2011
* Torp, Cornelius. "The "Coalition of 'Rye and Iron'" under the Pressure of Globalization: A Reinterpretation of Germany's Political Economy before 1914," ''Central European History'' (2010) 43#3 pp 401–427
* Weber, Max. "National Character and the Junkers," in  ''From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology'' (Routledge classics in sociology) (1991)[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_pqZS5q72UC&pg=PA386]

==External links==
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Junkers|year=1920 |short=x}}

[[Category:Prussian nobility|.]]
[[Category:Conservatism in Germany]]
[[Category:German noble titles]]
[[Category:Politics of Prussia]]