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IMPERIAL CITIES OR TOWNS

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 342 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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IMPERIAL CITIES OR TOWNS , the usual See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of Reichsstddte, an expression of frequent occurrence in See also:

German See also:

HISTORY

history. These were cities and towns subject to no authority except that of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor, or German See also:

king, in other words they were immediate; the earliest of them stood on the See also:

DEMESNE (DEMESNE, DEMAIN, DOMAIN, &c.)

demesne See also:

LAND

land of their See also:

SOVEREIGN

sovereign, and they often See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up around his palaces. A distinction was thus made between a Reichsstadt and a Landstadt, the latter being dependent upon some See also:

prince, not upon the emperor See also:

DIRECT

direct. The See also:

TERM

term Freie Reichsstadt, which is sometimes used in the same sense as Reichsstadt, is rightly only applicable to seven cities, See also:

Basel, See also:

STRASSBURG, or STRASBURG (French Strasbourg)

Strassburg, See also:

SPIRES (Ger. Speyer or Speier)

Spires, See also:

WORMS

Worms, See also:

MAINZ (Fr. Mayence)

Mainz, See also:

COLOGNE (Ger. Koln, or officially, since 1900, Coln)

Cologne and See also:

REGENSBURG (RATISBON)

Regensburg. Having freed themselves from the domination of their ecclesiastical lords these called themselves Freistddte and in practice their position was in-distinguishable from that of the Reichsstddte. In the See also:

MIDDLE

middle ages many other places won the coveted position of a Reichsstadt. Some gained it by See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift and others by See also:

PURCHASE

purchase; some won it by force of arms, others usurped it during times of anarchy, while a number secured it through the extinction of dominant families, like the See also:

HOHENSTAUFEN

Hohenstaufen. There were many more See also:

FREE

free towns in See also:

SOUTHERN

southern than in See also:

NORTHERN

northern See also:

Germany, but their number was continually fluctuating, for their liberties were lost much more quickly than they were gained. Mainz was conquered and subjected to the See also:

ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

archbishop in 1462. Some free towns See also:

fell into the hands of various princes of the See also:

EMPIRE

Empire and others placed themselves voluntarily under such See also:

PROTECTION

protection. Some, like See also:

DONAUWORTH

Donauworth in 1607, were deprived of their privileges by the emperor on See also:

account of real, or supposed, offences, while others were separated from the Empire by See also:

CONQUEST

conquest. In 1648 See also:

BESANCON

Besancon passed into the See also:

possession of See also:

Spain, Basel had already thrown in its See also:

lot with the Swiss See also:

CONFEDERATION (Fr. confederation, Lat. confoederatio, from foedus, a league, foederare, to form a league)

confederation, while Strassburg, See also:

COLMAR, or KOLMAR

Colmar, See also:

HAGENAU

Hagenau and others were seized by See also:

Louis XIV.

Meanwhile the free towns had been winning valuable privileges in addition to those which they already possessed, and the wealthier among them, like See also:

LUBECK

Lubeck and See also:

Augsburg, were practically imperia is imperio, waging See also:

war and making See also:

peace, and ruling their See also:

PEOPLE

people without any outside interference. But, they had also learned that See also:

union is strength. They formed alliances among themselves, both for offence and for See also:

defence, and these Stadlebiinde had an important See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence on the course of German history in the 14th and 15th centuries. These leagues were frequently at war with the ecclesiastical and See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular potentates of their See also:

DISTRICT

district and in See also:

general they were quite able to hold their own in these quarrels. The right of the free towns to be represented in the imperial See also:

DIET

diet was formally recognized in 148h, and about the same See also:

time they divided themselves into two See also:

groups,or benches, the Rhenish and the Swabian. By the peace of See also:

Westphalia in 1648 they were formally constituted as the third See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college of the diet. A See also:

list See also:

DRAWN

drawn up in 1422 mentions 75 free cities, another drawn up in 1521 mentions 84, but at the time of the See also:

French Revolution the number had decreased to 51. At this time the Rhenish free cities were: Cologne, See also:

Aix-la-Chapelle, Lubeck, Worms, Spires, See also:

FRANKFORT

Frankfort-on-the-See also:

Main, See also:

GOSLAR

Goslar, See also:

BREMEN

Bremen, See also:

HAMBURG

Hamburg, See also:

MUHLHAUSEN

Muhlhausen, See also:

NORDHAUSEN

Nordhausen, See also:

DORTMUND

Dortmund, See also:

FRIEDBERG

Friedberg and See also:

WETZLAR

Wetzlar. The Swabian free cities were: Regensburg, Augsburg, See also:

NUREMBERG (Ger. Nurnberg)

Nuremberg, See also:

Ulm, See also:

ESSLINGEN

Esslingen, See also:

REUTLINGEN

Reutlingen, See also:

NORDLINGEN

Nordlingen, Rothenburg-on-the-Tauber, Schwabisch-See also:

Hall, See also:

ROTTWEIL

Rottweil, Ueberlingen, See also:

HEILBRONN

Heilbronn, See also:

MEMMINGEN

Memmingen, See also:

GMUND

Gmund, Dinkelsbtihl, See also:

Lindau, See also:

BIBERACH

Biberach, See also:

RAVENSBURG

Ravensburg, See also:

SCHWEINFURT

Schweinfurt, See also:

KEMPTEN

Kempten, Windsheim, Kaufbeuern, Weil, Wangen, Isny, Pfullendorf, See also:

OFFENBURG

Offenburg, Leutkirch, Wimpfen, See also:

WEISSENBURG

Weissenburg, Giengen, Gengenbach, Zell, Buchorn, See also:

AALEN

Aalen, See also:

Buchan and Bopfingen. But a large proportion of them had as little claim to their exceptional positions as the See also:

POCKET

pocket boroughs of See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain and See also:

Ireland had before the passing of the Reform See also:

BILL

Bill of 1832. By the peace of See also:

LUNEVILLE

Luneville in 1801 Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Worms and Spires were taken by See also:

France, and by the decision of the imperial deputation of 1803 six cities only: Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, Augsburg, Frankfort-on-Main and Nuremberg, were allowed to keep their Reichsfreiheit, or in other words to hold directly of the Empire. This number was soon further reduced.

On the See also:

DISSOLUTION (from Lat. dissolvere, to break up into parts)

dissolution of the Empire in 18o6 Augsburg and Nuremburg passed under the See also:

SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty of See also:

BAVARIA (Ger. Bayern)

Bavaria, and Frankfort was made the seat of a duchy for Karl Theodor von See also:

DALBERG

Dalberg, elector and archbishop of Mainz, who was appointed prince See also:

PRIMATE (from Low Lat. primas=one who held the first place, primas partes)

primate of the Confederation of the See also:

RHINE (Lat. Rhenus, Ger. Rhein, Fr. Rhin, Dutch Rhyn, or Rijn)

Rhine. When the German Confederation was established in 1815 Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen and Frankfort were recognized as free cities, and the first three hold that position in the See also:

MODERN

modern German empire; but Frankfort, in consequence of the See also:

PART

part it took in the war of 1866, lost its See also:

independence and was annexed by See also:

Prussia. In the earlier years of their existence the free cities were See also:

TINDER (O. Eng. tyndre, from tindan, tendan, to kindle, cf. Dan. tonder, Ger. anzunden)

tinder the See also:

jurisdiction of an imperial officer, who was called the Reichsvogt or imperial See also:

ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

advocate, or sometimes the Reichsschultheiss or imperial See also:

PROCURATOR (Lat. procurare, to take care of)

procurator. As time went on many of the cities See also:

PURCHASED

purchased the right of filling these offices with their own nominees; and in several instances the imperial authority fell practically into desuetude except when it was stirred into See also:

ACTION

action by See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar circumstances. The See also:

INTERNAL

internal constitution of the free cities was organized after no See also:

COMMON

common See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model, although several of them had a constitution drawn up in See also:

IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

imitation of that of Cologne, which was one of the first to assert its independence. For the history of the free cities, see J. J. See also:

Moser, Reichsstddtisches Handbuch (See also:

TUBINGEN

Tubingen, 1732) ; D. Hanlein, Anmerkungen fiber See also:

die Geschichte der Reichsstddte (Ulm, 1775) ; A. See also:

WENDT, HANS HINRICH (1853— )

Wendt, Beschreibung der kaiserlichen freien Reichsstddte (See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig, 18o4); G. W. See also:

Hugo, Die Mediatisirung der deutschen Reichsstddte (Carlsruhe, 1838) ; G.

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