English Information

The Imperial Chamber Court Museum was opened in 1987. It uses a three-storey camera palace built by the court assessor Franz von Papius, which is ideally suited for museum presentation. As a special historical museum, it draws on a considerable collection of its own and on permanent loans.

Museum and Research Center for the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht)

I. Description

The Reichskammergericht or Imperial Chamber Court was created under Maximilian I. in the course of the Imperial Reform and establishment of the „Perpetual Peace“ in 1495 as the highest court of the Holy Roman Empire German Nation. The Court’s task was to develop a regulated procedure for the settlement of disputes by judicial means rather than by feud, force or ransom and thus to steer legal disputes onto a peaceful track. After holding court in various south and southwest German cities, the Court had its seat in Speyer from 1527 until that city’s destruction in 1689. Thereafter the Court moved its seat to Wetzlar, where it remained until the end of the Old Empire in1806. Over the course of the 19th century the significance of the Court was largely forgotten. This has changed significantly, however, since the 1960s.