Kurfürsten

Kurfürsten, or electors, were a group of princes within the Holy Roman Empire who possessed the exclusive right to elect the emperor. The institution arose in the High Middle Ages and was codified by the Golden Bull of 1356, which formalized the composition of the electoral college and the procedure of imperial election. The electors were among the empire’s most powerful rulers and retained considerable sovereignty within their territories, forming a key pillar of imperial governance.

The classic seven electors consisted of three ecclesiastical rulers—the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne—and four secular rulers—the King of Bohemia, the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave (later Elector) of Brandenburg. The Golden Bull defined their status as electors with a formal vote in the electoral college; they gathered to choose the King of the Romans, who would typically be crowned Emperor after papal confirmation. The electors occupied central and influential roles in imperial politics for centuries, shaping dynastic alliances, succession, and military support within the empire.

With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic era, the electoral privilege ceased to exist. The electors themselves continued to govern their respective realms within the evolving landscape of German states, some later ascending to kingships or other sovereign titles in their own right. The term Kurfürsten remains a historical designation for this aristocratic college and its role in the empire’s political structure.