==Distinction between free imperial cities and other cities==There were approximately four thousand towns and cities in the Empire, although around the year 1600 over nine-tenths of them had fewer than one thousand inhabitants.
Nekaj, kot na primer protestantski Donauwörth, ki je v letu 1607 pripadel k rimskokatoliški vojvodini Bavarski, jim je cesar status svobodnega mesta odvzel iz izmišljenih razlogov.