Stadtluft macht frei

The saying "City air makes you free by year and day " describes a principle of law in the Middle Ages.

From settlements around castles and monasteries that were founded around the 11th century by ransomed serfs and other members of the third class, in addition to the ancient Roman or Germanic ups more cities emerged. It is increasingly serfs continued to the cities where they were mostly undetectable for their landlords.

So it was legal custom that a resident in a city serf by year and day could not be recovered from his employer and thus an occupant (even city dwellers ) was. But if the employer could prove with seven witnesses, that the serf was his property, he had to serve him again. This scheme was abandoned by the Statutum in favorem principum ( 1231/32 ) in favor of the princes.