Kurfuersten/Electors

The Electors (German: Kurfürsten) had the function of electing the King of the Romans, i.e., the future [Holy Roman Emperor]?. Emperor [Charles IV]? established the electors in the [Golden Bull]? of 1356. The high imperial positions of electors were held by three archbishops (Mainz?, Cologne and Trier) and four secular rulers (the king of Bohemia, duke of Saxony, margrave of Brandenburg and Count Palatine of the Rhine).

Later, the dukes of Bavaria and Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) were added, and in 1803 (just before the Empire was abolished by Napoleon Bonaparte) also Baden, Wuerttemberg and Hesse.

/Talk