Editing City-state (section)

===Central Europe===
[[File:Free Imperial Cities 1792.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Free imperial city|Free imperial cities]] as of 1792.]]

In the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (962–1806) over 80 [[Free imperial city|Free Imperial Cities]] came to enjoy considerable autonomy in the Middle Ages and in early modern times, buttressed legally by [[international law]] following the [[Peace of Westphalia]] of 1648. Some, like three of the earlier [[Hanseatic cities]] – [[Bremen]], [[History of Hamburg|Hamburg]] and [[Free City of Lübeck|Lübeck]] – pooled their economic relations with foreign powers and were able to wield considerable diplomatic clout. Individual cities often made protective alliances with other cities or with neighbouring regions, including the [[Hanseatic League]] (1358 – 17th century), the [[Swabian League of Cities]] (1331–1389), the [[Décapole]] (1354–1679) in the Alsace, or the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]] ({{circa}} 1300 – 1798). The [[Cantons of Switzerland|Swiss cantons]] of [[Canton of Zürich|Zürich]], [[Canton of Bern|Bern]], [[Canton of Lucerne|Lucerne]], [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]], [[Canton of Solothurn|Solothurn]], [[Canton of Basel|Basel]], [[Canton of Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]], and [[Canton of Geneva|Geneva]] originated as city-states.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, some cities – then members of different [[confederation|confederacies]] – officially became sovereign city-states, such as the [[Bremen (state)|Free Hanseatic City of Bremen]] (1806–11 and again 1813–71), the [[Free City of Frankfurt |Free City of Frankfurt upon Main]] (1815–66), the [[Hamburg|Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg]] (1806–11 and again 1814–71), the [[Free City of Lübeck|Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck]] (1806–11 and again 1813–71), and the [[Free City of Kraków]] (1815–1846). Under [[Habsburg]] rule the city of [[Fiume]] had the status of a [[Corpus separatum (Fiume)|''corpus separatum'']] (1779–1919), which – while falling short of an independent sovereignty – had many attributes of a city-state.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}