Imperial City of Bremen

Stadt Bremen

Bremen’s history as a city dates back to the 8th century, when it became the seat of a bishopric (later archbishopric). It was recognized as an “imperial city” in 1186, although the archbishop continued to exercise significant influence. The city joined the Hanseatic League in 1260 and became a powerful member thereof. Over the years, both the city and the archbishopric added to their territory. The Count of Oldenburg and various Frisian chieftans pushed back on the city and by 1654, the city’s territory was limited that contiguous to the core city. The archbishop, in contrast, retained most of the territory he had won and eventually relocated his seat of government to Vörde.

 

In 1646, the city’s independence from the archbishopric was confirmed by the issuance of an imperial city charter. In 1741, however, it had to surrender sovereignty over some villages to the Electorate of Hannover (which had subsumed the archbishopric’s territory), although the city continued to administer them. I place those villages in a country whose simplified name I render as “Hannover-Bremen”. The subdivision of “Stadt Bremen” contains two areas outside the core city—Pagenthorn and Utbremen. The “Neustadt”  section is considered part of the core city.