Market Towns in England - German-language Area

German-language Area

The medieval right to hold markets (German: Marktrecht) is reflected in the prefix Markt of the names of many towns in Germany and Austria, for example, Markt Berolzheim or Marktbergel. Other terms used for market towns were Flecken in northern Germany, or Wigbold and Freiheit in Westphalia.

Market rights were designated as long ago as in the Carolingian Empire: in 800 Charlemagne granted the title of a market town to Esslingen am Neckar. The conferment was one of the regalia in the Holy Roman Empire, as mentioned in the Constitutio by Frederick I Barbarossa at the 1158 Diet of Roncaglia. With the rise of the territories, the ability to designate market towns was passed to the princes and dukes, as the basis of German town law.

The local ordinance status of a market town (Marktgemeinde or Markt) is perpetuated through the law of the German state of Bavaria, Austria and the Italian province of South Tyrol. Nevertheless the title has no further legal significance, as it does not grant any privileges.