The coats of arms on the oriel tower and the balcony parapet of the historic town hall from the 16th century refer to Schweinfurt's importance as a free imperial city (Civitas Imperii) from the 12th century to 1802. The exact beginnings cannot be dated due to a lack of documents, but Schweinfurt was probably founded on royal territory in the course of the 12th century. The confirmation of the imperial city status by King Rudolf I dates back to 1282. As an imperial city, there was no subordination to a sovereign, but the city was directly subordinate to the king/emperor and represented in the city council of the Reichstag. Schweinfurt thus had a comparable rank to Frankfurt am Main, Aachen, Nuremberg, Ulm or Bremen.
In keeping with this status, the royal/imperial German double-headed eagle coat of arms is emblazoned on the oriel tower of the town hall. Below, on the balcony parapet, this is underlined by the coats of arms of the seven electors who, as the most important imperial princes, elected the king/emperor and held the imperial archbishoprics: Trier (arch chancellor for Burgundy), Cologne (arch chancellor for Italy), Mainz (arch chancellor for Germany), Bohemia (arch cupbearer), Palatinate (arch steward), Saxony (arch marshal), Brandenburg (arch chamberlain).
In 1802/03, Schweinfurt, like 44 other imperial cities, lost its status through the Imperial Deputation Act. This last important law of the Holy Roman Empire re-regulated numerous territorial borders and thus reacted to the cession of territory to France on the left bank of the Rhine. Schweinfurt was thus assigned to Bavaria.