Abstract: A hinge fitting for adjusting the inclination of the back rest of a vehicle seat comprises a stationary hinge plate secured to the seat, a movable hinge plate pivoted to the stationary hinge plate and secured to the back rest, a semicircularly toothed internal rack secured within the stationary hinge plate, a pawl lever swingably pivoted on the inside of the movable hinge plate and including a detent element swingable at the outside of the movable hinge plate to be meshed with the teeth of the rack in a vertical common plane, the pivot position of the pawl lever being arranged on a tangent of the semicircularly aligned teeth of the rack, and a spring loaded locking lever pivoted coaxially with the hinge plates and movable between a locked position in which the detent element is engaged with the rack by engagement of the locking lever against the detent element and a released position in which the detent element is disengaged from the rack by engagement of the locking lever against the pawl lever.