Principality of Erfurt

Principality of Erfurt
Fürstentum Erfurt  (German) Principauté d'Erfurt  (French)
Imperial state domain of the First French Empire
1807–1814
Coat of arms
Principality of Erfurt highlighted in yellow within the First French Empire (coloured in blues), shown with 1812 borders
The French Empire and sphere of influence in 1812.   French Empire in 1804   French acquisitions after 1804   French satellite states   Kingdom of Prussia   French sphere of influence
Capital		Erfurt 50°59′0″N 11°2′0″E / 50.98333°N 11.03333°E / 50.98333; 11.03333Coordinates: 50°59′0″N 11°2′0″E / 50.98333°N 11.03333°E / 50.98333; 11.03333
Government		Principality
Historical era		Napoleonic Wars
•	Capitulation of Erfurt	16 October 1806
•	Principality established by Napoleonic decree	4 August 1807
•	Congress of Erfurt	27 Sept – 14 Oct 1808
•	Battle of Leipzig	16–19 October 1813
•	Siege of Erfurt	28 October 1813 – 5 May 1814
•	Congress of Vienna	Sept 1814 – June 1815
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Prussia Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Province of Saxony Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Today part of		Germany

Coat of arms

The Principality of Erfurt (German: Fürstentum Erfurt; French: Principauté d'Erfurt) was a small state in modern Thuringia, Germany, that existed from 1807 to 1814, comprising the modern city of Erfurt and the surrounding land. It was subordinate directly to Napoleon, the Emperor of the French, rather than being a part of the Confederation of the Rhine. After nearly 3 months of siege, the city fell to Prussian, Austrian and Russian forces. Having mainly been Prussian territory before the Napoleonic Wars, most of the lands were restored to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna.

In the wake of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Treaty of Lunéville, the Holy Roman Empire underwent a process of substantial territorial reorganisation known as the German mediatization, under which Erfurt, since the 10th century a subject of the Electorate and Archbishopric of Mainz, was transferred to the Kingdom of Prussia, to compensate for territories Prussia lost to France on the Left Bank of the Rhine.