A Freihaus was a house that, although physically within the city walls

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

 of a medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 or early modern city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

, was legally outside it. That is, the residents of a Freihaus legally lived in the surrounding countryside and were outside the jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

 of the city Court

Court

A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

 and were exempt from municipal taxes. In addition to the nobility

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

, religious institutions often had such privilege

Privilege

A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...

d houses in urban areas.

A freihaus was often awarded as a fief; rarely they were allodial

Allodial title

Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property that is independent of any superior landlord, but it should not be confused with anarchy as the owner of allodial land is not independent of his sovereign...

 property of their owner. They were often part of a Burglehn

Burglehn

In medieval law, the term Burglehn described two things:# The castle with all its accessories as a feud, which the king could give to a vassal.# A defined area outside the walls of a Castle, where the houses of the Burgmannen were found....

 quarter, in which the nobility among the defenders of a fortress were housed. However, it was also possible that the Prince privileged individual house sites in a city, and exempted them from the city's charter

Charter

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

. There were often controversies between the owners of the freihaus and the city where they were located over the question if urban crafts could legally be practised in these houses, and if so, whether they were subject to the rules of the city guilds.