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In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (German: Freie und Reichsstädte ), briefly worded free imperial city ( Freie Reichsstadt, Latin: urbs imperialis libera ), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that had a certain amount of autonomy and was represented in the Imperial Diet. [1]
A charter in 1189 from Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted Hamburg the status of a free imperial city, tax-free access up the Lower Elbe into the North Sea, and the rights to fish, to cut trees and the freedom of military service.
List of the Free Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire. There were 51 Free Imperial Cities in the Holy Roman Empire as of 1792. They are listed here with their official confessional status after the Peace of Westphalia (1648). Aachen (Catholic) Aalen (Lutheran) Augsburg (bi-denominational) Biberach (bi-denominational)
Imperial city, any of the cities and towns of the Holy Roman Empire that were subject only to the authority of the emperor, or German king, on whose demesne (personal estate) the earliest of them originated. The term freie Reichsstadt, or Free Imperial City, was sometimes used interchangeably with.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The fort can still be seen in the city’s coat of arms. 1189 was a crucial year, as Frederick I Barbarossa allegedly gave Hamburg the title of Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire. Tax-free access to the lower River Elbe enabled the city to become a key trading power in Europe.
The official name reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. Before the 1871 unification of Germany, it was a fully sovereign city state, and before 1919 formed a civic republic headed constitutionally by a class of hereditary Grand Burghers or Hanseaten.
The free and imperial cities (Freie und Reichsst ä dte) were a privileged elite among the 2,500 or so towns within the Holy Roman Empire. The term "free city" originally applied to towns founded by a bishop that later won self-governance, whereas "imperial cities" dated back to royal settlements established by the emperor or developing under ...
