Bregenz

Bregenz was a county at the eastern end of Lake Constance. In 1337 Count Hugo of the Montfort-Bregenz line held the town.

The line died out in 1338, and Bregenz passed to Montfort-Tettnang. In 1451 the heiress Elisabeth of Hochberg sold half the town and lordship to Habsburg Duke Sigismund; its inhabitants became personally free. Ferdinand I bought the other half in 1523. Bregenz remained an imperial county under the Habsburgs until the Empire dissolved in 1806.