Dance Statute

The Dance Statute established in 1521 a set of politically influential town hall balls that the magistrate of the Imperial City of Nuremberg held on certain days of the year, such as Sundays of the Lord's Carnival, or in honor of princes in the Old City Hall.

Ratsfähig meant that the families were allowed to send up to two members to the ruling "Inner Council" of the city.

In practice, however, this distinction no longer played a major role, because shortly afterwards members of the younger lines were also able to hold the highest offices.

The stipulation made in the Dance Statute expressed the conclusion of a longer development, in which the other respectable families had been excluded from the city authority in the course of the 15th century.

After 1806, when the patriciate was incorporated into the Bavarian nobility, the Dance Statute no longer played a formal role, but eventually, most of the old families succeeded in joining the Freiherr class.