A few, like Protestant Donauwörth, which in 1607 was annexed to the Roman Catholic Duchy of Bavaria, were stripped by the Emperor of their status as a Free City for genuine or trumped-up reasons.
Svobodna mesta (" Freie Städte"; "Urbes liberae") so bila tista, kot na primer Basel, Augsburg, Köln in Strasbourg, kjer je bil najprej upravljavec knezoškof, in so se prav tako postopoma osamosvojila tudi od tega.