Quellen zur historischen deutschen Rechtsforschung bei Harv

This section of the guide provides some guidance for historical legal research for the area known today as Germany.

Listed below this box on this page are general historical legal research sources.

Sub-pages in this section are organized chronologically, from the Holy Roman Empire, through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, up to the reunification of the two Germanys in 1989.

This section is not intended to provide extensive information about the evolution of the history of German law. Instead, this chronological breakdown provides the framework for an introductory bibliography of materials (print and electronic) that will be helpful to users who are researching historic German legal topics. Accordingly, broad generalizations about the state of legal affairs in the region during each time period are provided.

Note: This section represents an extremely fundamental bibliography that barely scratches the surface of the Harvard Libraries' extensive collection of print materials for each of these time periods.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

• Law -- Germany -- Bibliography
• Law -- Germany -- History

General Sources for Historical Legal Research
This section includes individual titles as well as serial publications, in both print and electronic formats.

• ALEX Historische Rechts- und Gesetzetexte Online (Austrian National Library Database)
  
  
  
  This is the Austrian National Library's database of digitized historical legal documents from throughout Europe. including Germany. Primary and secondary materials are included.
• Archiv des Völkerrechts (Journal)
  
  
  
  Public international law journal, which has been used primarily as a forum for German scholars to write on this topic, published since 1948. Articles are mainly in German, with some in English and French.
• Beiträge zur Erläuterung des deutschen Rechts (1857-1933) (Series)
  
  
  
  Multi-volume series of information about the historical development of German law and legal principles.
• Bibliographie handels-, gesellschafts- und wirtschaftsrechtlicher Dissertationen von 1950 bis 1980
  
  
  
  Bibliography of German-language dissertations published 1950-80 in commercial and economic law.
• Bibliographie zur Deutschen Rechtsgeschichte
  
  
  
  2-volume bibliography of German legal history resources, published in 1952.
• Biographisches Repertorium der Juristen im Alten Reich, 16.-18. Jahrhundert
  
  
  
  Four-volume historical biography of German jurists from the 16th through the 18th century.
• Deutsches Rechtsdenken (Series)
  
  
  
  Series of reprinted classic works of German legal scholarship.
• Deutsches Textarchiv (DTA) (Database)
  
  
  
  Collection of digitized German texts across covering an extensive historical time period (1600-1900). Genres include academic and scientific works, literature, and practical writings.
• Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte
  
  
  
  Six-volume historical treatise on German administrative law, from the late middle ages through the late 20th century (available in print at Widener Library).
• Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte (Series)
  
  
  
  "Encyclopedia of German History" - series of volumes on many topics (including law) published from the late 1980s to the present by the Oldenbourg publishing company in Munich.
• Forschung zur Deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (Series)
  
  
  
  Series of titles on German legal history research, published by the Böhlau Verlag in Cologne since 1960.
• German History in Documents and Images (Digital Document Database)
  
  
  
  
  German History in Documents and Images (GHDI) is a comprehensive collection of primary source materials documenting Germany's political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to the present. It comprises original German texts, all of which are accompanied by new English translations, and a wide range of visual imagery. This collection is an initiative of the German Historical Institute of Washington D.C.
• German Legal History: National Traditions and Transnational Perspectives (2014) (Journal Article)
  
  
  
  This article (from the journal Rechtsgeschichte/Legal History) discusses legal history as an academic discipline in Germany in the 100-year period between 1914 and 2014 (focusing specifically on the last 25 years of that time period) and its impact on the study of legal history internationally.
• Geschichte des Rechts: von den Frühformen bis zur Gegenwart
  
  
  
  Discusses the history of law generally and is not limited to Germany. 2014 4th ed.
• Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Germany (1912)
  
  
  
  English-language bibliography of materials that discuss German law. Historical and contemporary (as of the early 20th century) materials are included.
• Historische Studien (Series)
  
  
  
  Legal history series published in the late 1800s by the Leipzig publishing house Veit.
• History of Social Law in Germany
  
  
  
  English-language translation (by Thomas Dunlap) of Michale Stolleis's treatise on the development of social law in Germany, from the middle ages to the current day.
• Juristische Dissertationen deutscher Universitäten, 17.-18. Jahrhundert okumentation
  
  
  
  Print index of legal dissertations published in German universities from 1601 through 1755.
• Literaturquellen zum deutschen, österreichischen und schweizerischen Privat- und Zivilprozeßrecht des 19. Jahrhunderts (Max-Plank-Institut für eur. Rechtsgeschichte)
  
  
  
  Bibliography of sources for German, Austrian, and Swiss private and civil procedure law of the 19th century.
• Litteratur des Germanischen Rechts (1782)
  
  
  
  Annotated bibliography of sources discussing sources of German legal history from the earliest times.
• Litteratur des Teutschen Staatsrechts (1776-1783)
  
  
  
  Multi-volume bibliography of early German constitutional law materials.
• Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600-1926 (database)
  
  
  
  
  Subscription database containing historical foreign legal treatises. This database can be browsed by country; from the home page, select Germany in the country list to view German legal treatises.
• Nachschlagewerk des Reichsgerichts: Gesetzgebung des Deutschen Reichs
  
  
  
  8-volume reference work on the legislative activities of the German government: Kaiserzeit, Weimarer Zeit, NS Zeit.
• Quellen und Studien zur Verfassungsgeschichte des Deutschen Reiches in Mittelalter und Neuzeit (series)
  
  
  
  Book series, published in the early 1900s, on constitutional law history and sources.
• Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History (Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte) (journal)
  Multi-lingual journal that includes many articles about German legal history. The online version is open access; no subscription is required. This title is indexed in the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals.
• Rechtsgeschichte: eine Einführung
  
  
  
  Introductory work on legal history, by Stephan Meder.
• Rechtshistorische Reihe (series)
  
  
  
  Series of titles (each volume has distinctive bright yellow covers) published by the German publisher P.D. Lang on a variety of subjects related to German legal history.
• Schaffer's Grundriss des Rechts und der Wirtschaft (series)
  
  
  
  Multi-volume series of titles covering law and economics published by the W. Kohlhammer Verlag in Leipzig in the early 20th century.
• Schönfelder Deutsche Gesetze (Historical) (looseleaf series)
  
  
  
  The library's collection includes several historical editions of the Schönfelder Deutsche Gesetze looseleaf series. Click the link above to view a list of these holdings in the Hollis library catalog.
• Session Reports of the German Reichstag and its Precursors (Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags und seiner Vorläufer) (database)
  
  
  
  
  Digitized session reports of the German Reichstag and its precursors, dated 1867-1942. It includes a English-language interface, although the documents themselves are all in German. This site is very useful for legislative history research. It is hosted by the Bavarian State Library.
• Studien zur Europäischen Rechtsgeschichte (series)
  
  
  
  Max-Planck Institute for European Legal History publication series.
• Untersuchungen zur deutschen Staats- und Rechtsgeschichte (series)
  
  
  
  Series examining the history of the German legal System, published throughout the 20th century by the Scientia publishing house.
• World Constitutions Illustrated: Germany (database)
  
  
  
  
  HeinOnline's World Constitutions Illustrated collection includes the texts of constitutions and fundamental laws, along with various secondary sources (commentaries, scholarly writings, and bibliographies) for constitutional law in many of the world's jurisdictions. The collection for Germany is extensive, with statutory acts dating back to 1806 in English, German, French, and other languages, as well as German and English commentaries dating from the late 1800s.
• Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romanistische Abteilung (journal)
  
  
  
  This is a scholarly journal for legal history, focusing on ancient, Roman, and medieval law. Electronic date coverage is 1880-2010. Primarily in German.
• Zürcher Studien zur Rechtsgeschichte (series)
  
  
  
  Titles on the history of law in German-speaking countries, including Germany, published since 1978 by the Schulthess Verlag in Switzerland.
• Öffentliches Recht in Deutschland: eine Einführung in seine Geschichte (16.-21. Jahrhundert)
  
  
  
  Introduction to the history of public law in Germany from the 16th century to modern times.
• Österreichische und Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte
  
  
  
  Austrian and German legal history textbook, 1983 2nd ed.

Finding Legal Historical Information in BeckOnline
A number of topical legal treatises in Beck-Online include historical information about the development of the law. One way to find these materials is to type this in the search box:

Geschichte des

You will see a drop-down menu with resources whose titles include this language, as shown below:
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