The Burgraviate of Nuremberg (German: Burggrafschaft Nürnberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries.

Nuremberg was probably founded around the turn of the 11th century, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, as the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau.

[1][2] This castellan not only administered the imperial lands surrounding Nuremberg, but levied taxes and constituted the highest judicial court in matters relating to poaching and forestry; he also was the appointed protector of the various ecclesiastical establishments, churches and monasteries, even of the Bishopric of Bamberg.

The strained relations between the burgraves and the castellan finally broke out into open enmity, which greatly influenced the history of the city.

Frederick II (reigned 1212–1250) granted the Großen Freiheitsbrief (English: Great Letter of Freedom) in 1219, including town rights, Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit), the privilege to mint coins and an independent customs policy, almost wholly removing the city from the purview of the burgraves.