Carte Distribution des villages d'Empire

The Imperial Villages (''Reichsdörfer'', singular ''Reichsdorf'') were the smallest component entities of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. They possessed

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...

, having no lord but the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

, but were not

estates Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representati ...

. They were unencircled and did not have representation in the Imperial Diet. In all these respects they were similar to the Imperial Knights. The inhabitants of Imperial Villages were free men.

Imperial Villages

The Imperial Villages—relics of the royal demesne during the era of the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

—were all located in southern and western

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Originally there were 120 villages, but this number was greatly reduced during the early modern period. At the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

in 1648, forty Imperial Villages in Alsace passed to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In this Alsatian group were several even smaller entities known as Imperial Hamlets (''Reichsweiler''). At the time of the ''

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

'', the final Imperial reform in 1803, only five Imperial Villages remained:

Gochsheim Gochsheim is a municipality in the district of Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a ...

Sennfeld Sennfeld is a municipality in the district of Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a ...

, Holzhausen, Soden and Sulzbach. Holzhausen was a condominium village, two thirds of which was immediate to the Emperor and the remaining third subject to various landlords. In addition, the Free Men of the Leutkircher Heath in the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the ...

constituted a free peasant republic often counted among the Imperial Villages. Although constitutionally the smallest entities of the Empire, the size of an Imperial Village varied. Territory of the Free Men of the Leutkircher Heath surrounded the Imperial City of Leutkirch on three sides and its area was nearly four times as large. These villages had preserved their rights of justice and their free status for centuries without force of arms, a "testimony to the progressive 'juridification' of the Reich".

Imperial Valley

The Imperial Valley (''Reichstal'') of the Harmersbach was an immediate territory in the Harmersbach river valley of the Black Forest near the Kinzig, which existed in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Politically, it possessed a similar structure to the Free Men of the Leutkircher Heath, yet was the only officially designated ''Reichstal'' in the Empire. The ''Reichstal'' was approached from the Free Imperial City of Zell am Harmersbach at the mouth of the valley. Although medieval leases placed the ''Reichstal'' under the legal power of Zell, disputes finally led the

Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

to dissolve the contract in 1689, and the valley's complete immediacy to the Emperor was recognized in 1718. The ''Reichstal'' was annexed by

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

in 1806.

Imperial Hamlets

Imperial Hamlets (Reichsweiler) included Gebolsheim.

Imperial Farmsteads

Imperial Farmsteads (Reichshöfe) included

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography ...

Notes

Sources