What was the Everlasting Diet at Regensburg?

The Everlasting Diet, or Immerwährender Reichstag, was a permanent assembly of the Holy Roman Empire that convened in Regensburg starting in 1663.1

Following the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the traditional structure of the imperial Diet—which had previously possessed effective legislative power—began to break down as the empire became increasingly divided by conflicting religious and political aims. When the Diet met in Regensburg in 1663, it did not conclude as usual; instead, it prolonged itself indefinitely into a permanent session.1

This assembly functioned as a gathering of sovereign princes, typically represented by envoys rather than the rulers themselves, and lacked the legislative authority of its predecessors. The emperor was represented by a commissioner, and the elector of Mainz managed the business of the meetings. This body continued to meet in the city's Reichssaal (Imperial Hall) until the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.12