Court's strict hierarchy

The Ball at Court: 1898

It wasn't easy to get into the Habsburg court. Only the aristocracy, people born into high-ranking families, were invited. And once in the court, there were lots of rules to follow.

"Austrian aristocratic society was characterized by its strict hierarchy. In essence this meant the order of rank, a delicate issue that required precise knowledge of the history of these families and their privileges. For us today, it would seem a relatively simple task to decide who should stand, sit or walk, etc., in front of whom. At Court, however, such things represented the ‘social capital’ of the aristocrat. The order of rank reflected centuries in which noble honour had been accumulated over the generations. The principal distinctions were of title, such as prince, count, baron and so on, but within these ranks it was the point at which these titles had been acquired that was critical for one’s position at Court. What today often seems like pointless snobbery and an unwittingly comical obsession with titles was an essential part of the aristocracy’s conception of itself."
http://www.habsburger.net/en/#/en/reading-room/stories/high-society-2013-das-gesellschaftliche-leben-der-kaiserstadt/eine-allzu-geschlossene-gesellschaft

Differences in rank also played into large social events like the Court Ball (with around 2,000 people) and the Ball at Court  (only 700 of the most elite). For more information see:  http://english.habsburger.net/module-en/der-feine-unterschied-hofball-und-ball-bei-hof