Free City of Frankfurt

Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Freie Stadt Frankfurt"¹
conventional_long_name = Free City of Frankfurt¹
common_name = Frankfurt
continent = Europe
region = Central Europe
country = Germany
status = City State
empire = Holy Roman Empire
status_text = State of the Holy Roman Empire
State of the German Confederation
government_type = Republic
year_start = 1372
year_end = 1866
life_span = 1372 – 1806
1816 – 1866
event_start = Gained "Reichsfreiheit"
date_start =
event1 = Annexed by Napoleon
date_event1 = 1806
event2 = Puppet grand duchy
date_event2 = 1810–13
event3 = Restored
date_event3 = 9 July 1815
event_end = Annexed by Prussia
date_end = 8 October 1866
p1 =
flag_p1 =
image_p1 =
s1 = Province of Hesse-Nassau
flag_s1 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Hessen-Nassau.svg

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image_map_caption = Location of Frankfurt within the German Confederation
capital = Frankfurt am Main
common_languages = German
religion =
currency = South German gulden (from 1754)
stat_year1 = 1864
stat_area1 =
stat_pop1 = 91150
footnotes = 1: Until 1806, Frankfurt was known as the "Free Imperial City of Frankfurt" "Freie Reichsstadt Frankfurt". With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the imperial part of the name was dropped upon the city-state's restoration in 1815.For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt am Main was a city-state within two major Germanic states:
*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt ( _de. Freie Reichsstadt Frankfurt) (until 1806)
*The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ("Freie Stadt Frankfurt") (1815–66)

Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Aachen) until 1792. Frankfurt was declared an Imperial Free City ("Reichsstadt") in 1372, making the city directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

Due to its imperial significance, Frankfurt survived mediatisation in 1803. Following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Frankfurt fell to the rule of Napoleon I, who granted the city to Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg; the city became known as the Principality of Frankfurt. In 1810 Dalberg merged Frankfurt with the Principality of Aschaffenburg, the County of Wetzlar, Fulda, and Hanau to form the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. After the defeat of Napoleon and the collapse of the Confederation of the Rhine, Frankfurt was returned to its pre-Napoleonic form via the Congress of Vienna of 1815 and became a member of the German Confederation.

During the period of the German Confederation, Frankfurt continued to be a major city. The confederation's governing body, the Bundestag (officially called the "Bundesversammlung", Federal Assembly) was located in the palace of Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt's city centre. During the Revolutions of 1848, the Frankfurt Parliament was formed in an attempt to unite the German states in a democratic manner. It was here that Prussian king, Frederick William IV refused the offer of the crown of "Little Germany".

In 1866, the Kingdom of Prussia went to war with the Austrian Empire over Schleswig-Holstein, causing the Austro-Prussian War. Frankfurt, remaining loyal to the German Confederation, did not join with Prussia. Following Prussia's victory, Frankfurt was annexed by Prussia, becoming part of the newly-formed province of Hesse-Nassau.