Initially "burgrave" suggested a similar function and history as other titles rendered in German by , in Dutch as or in English as "Viscount" (); the deputy of a count charged with exercising the count's prerogatives in overseeing one or more of the count's strongholds or fiefs, as the burgrave dwelt usually in a castle or fortified town. Some became hereditary and by the modern era obtained rank just below a count, though above a ' (baron) who might hold a fief as vassal of the original count.