Electoral Cologne

Electorate of Cologne
Erzstift und Kurfürstentum Köln or Kurerzstift Köln or Kurköln
State of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial elector
953–1803
Flag Coat of arms
Map of the Lower Rhine around 1560 with the Electorate of Cologne highlighted in red, including the Duchy of Westphalia
Capital		Cologne (953–1288) Bonn (1597–1794)
Government		Elective principality
Elector of Cologne
•	1801–1803	Archduke Anton Victor of Austria
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Bishopric established	Ancient Roman times
•	Elevated to archbishopric	953
•	Bruno I archbishop	953
•	Arch-chancellor of Italy	1031
•	Cologne made Free Imperial City	1288
•	Joined Electoral Rhenish Circle	1512
•	German mediatization	1803 1803
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Lorraine Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt Duchy of Nassau Wied-Runkel Rhin-et-Moselle Roer (department)

The Electorate of Cologne (German: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (German: Kurköln), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift — the temporal possessions — of the Archbishop of Cologne and ruled by him in his capacity as prince-elector. The Electorate should not be confused with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne, which was larger and over which the Elector-Archbishop exercised only spiritual authority. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of Trier. The Archbishop-Elector of Cologne was also Arch-chancellor of Italy (one of the three component titular kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, the other two being Germany and Burgundy) and, as such, ranked second among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, after the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, and before that of Trier.

The capital of the electorate was Cologne. Conflicts with the citizens of Cologne caused the Elector to move to Bonn. The Free Imperial City of Cologne was recognized after 1475, thus removing it from even the nominal secular authority of the Elector. Cologne and Bonn were occupied by France in 1794. The right bank territories of the Electorate were secularized in 1803 during the German mediatization.

The territory of the Electorate of Cologne was smaller than the Archdiocese of Cologne, which included suffragant bishoprics such as Liège and Münster (see map below).

Cologne was the ancient Roman city of Colonia Agrippina in the province of Germania Inferior, and has been a bishop's see since Roman times. In 953, the archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power, when Bishop Bruno was appointed as duke by his brother Emperor Otto I. To weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his successors in the bishop's see with the prerogatives of secular princes. This was the beginning of the electoral state of Cologne. It was formed from the temporal possessions of the archbishopric and included in the end a strip of territory along the left Bank of the Rhine east of Jülich, and the Duchy of Westphalia on the other side of the Rhine, beyond Berg and Mark.