Via Imperii

*Via Imperii*
Via Imperii
Imperial Road
Route information
Length	1,800 km (1,100 mi)
Time period	Antiquity, medieval
Major junctions
From	Stettin
To	Rome
Location
Countries	West Pomerania, Brandenburg, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Bayern, Austria, Trentino, Tuscany, Lazio
Highway system
	International E-road network; A Class; B Class;

Via Imperii (Imperial Road) was one of the most important of a class of roads known collectively as imperial roads (German: Reichsstraßen) of the Holy Roman Empire. This old trade route ran in a south–north direction from Venice on the Adriatic Sea and Verona in the Kingdom of Italy across the Brenner Pass through Germany to the Baltic coast passing the following cities:

Innsbruck in the County of Tyrol
Augsburg in the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg
the Imperial city of Nuremberg
Bayreuth, Berneck, Münchberg and Hof in the Principality of Bayreuth
Plauen, Mylau and Reichenbach in the Vogtland region
Zwickau, Altenburg, Regis, Borna, Markkleeberg and Connewitz in the Margraviate of Meissen
Leipzig – intersection with east–west Via Regia
Wittenberg in Saxe-Wittenberg
Cölln/Berlin, capital of Brandenburg
Bernau bei Berlin
Stettin in the Duchy of Pomerania

The cities on the route held the privilege of staple right, merchants were obliged to use the toll road and in turn enjoyed protection by the Imperial authority under the terms of the Landfrieden.

Parts of the historic route are today marked by the Italian Strada Statale No. 12, the Austrian Landesstraßen B 182 and B 177 and the German Bundesstraße 2.

References

Christoph Kühn: Die Via Imperii als Pilgerstraße. in: Unterwegs im Zeichen der Muschel. Rundbrief der Fränkischen St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft Würzburg, Nr. 52, January 2005, p. 13-14