Aachen

Aachen was a Free Imperial City in the Rhineland, governed by its council and guilds. By 1337 it was an established coronation city of the German kings.

Ferdinand I was crowned there in 1531. Religious conflict brought the expulsion of Protestant officials in 1598 and a Spanish siege in 1614 that restored Catholic rule. French troops ended the city's autonomy in 1794; France annexed it in 1801, and the Congress of Vienna assigned it to Prussia in 1815.