The 'Décapole' (''Zehnstädtebund'' or ''Dekapolis'' in
German) was an alliance of ten towns of the
Holy Roman Empire in
Alsace, in a league founded in
1354, and discontinued in
1679.
In 1354 the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV ratified the treaty uniting the towns of
Haguenau,
Colmar,
Wissembourg,
Turckheim,
Obernai,
Kaysersberg,
Rosheim,
Munster,
Sélestat and
Mulhouse. Haguenau became its capital while
Strasbourg, another
free town of the empire, remained outside of the alliance. In
1515, Mulhouse pulled out of the alliance in order to ally with
Swiss cantons. They were replaced by
Landau.
The alliance was strongly shaken by the
Thirty Years' War which ravaged the region, allowing
France to annex most of the towns in the
Peace of Westphalia in
1648. The signing of the
Treaties of Nijmegen in
1679 finally brought an end to the Décapole.