Free Imperial City of Dinkelsbühl

Origins

Dinkelsbühl grew at a crossing of trade routes on the Wörnitz and received town rights under the Hohenstaufen. After being pledged by the crown to various lords, it secured its status as a free imperial city in 1351, when Charles IV promised that it would not be pledged again.

Rule and society

In 1387 the guilds won a share of power in the council. Cloth, scythe-making and trade brought prosperity, visible in the late Gothic church of Saint George. The town became mixed in religion, and the Peace of Westphalia made it one of four imperial cities where Catholics and Lutherans shared council offices equally.

Decline and legacy

Swedish troops occupied the town in the Thirty Years' War, but it escaped destruction; local tradition says its children persuaded the Swedish colonel to spare it, a story celebrated in the Kinderzeche festival. In 1802 it passed to Bavaria, was Prussian from 1804 to 1806 and then returned to Bavaria. Its walls, gates and houses survive almost intact.