In 1186 the Bremian Prince-Archbishop Hartwig of Uthlede and his bailiff in Bremen confirm—without generally waiving the prince-archiepiscopal overlordship over the city—the Gelnhausen Privilege, by which Frederick I Barbarossa grants the city considerable privileges.

The city is recognized as a political entity with its own laws.

Property within the municipal boundaries cannot be subjected to feudal overlordship; this also applies to serfs who acquire property, if they manage to live in the city for a year and a day, after which they are to be regarded as free persons.

Property is to be freely inherited without feudal claims for reversion to its original owner.

This privilege lays the foundation for Bremen's later status of imperial immediacy (Free Imperial City).