Otto von Gierke

Otto von Gierke

Berlin memorial plaque, Otto and Anna von Gierke, Carmerstraße 12, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany

Otto Friedrich von Gierke (11 January 1841 – October 10, 1921) was a German historian. He was born in Stettin (Szczecin), Pomerania, and died in Berlin.

Scholar

He specialised in the study of the German antecedents of German law. His view of the Rechtsstaat (state on a legal basis), and his emphasis on the federal nature of medieval states, became important and debated. In fact, he said the society grows up because people form groups and groups of groups, from families to the State. He stood as an opponent of the trend of civil law interpretation and theorising. His theory took up some older ideas from Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri (De Monarchia).

Abroad he was a major influence on the British historian of law F. W. Maitland, who translated as Political Theories of the Middle Ages some of Gierke's major works, and on John Neville Figgis.

Works

• Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht, Berlin 4 volumes, 1868, 1873, 1881
• Deutsches Privatrecht, 3 volumes, Leipzig 1895
• Naturrrecht und Deutsches Recht, Frankfurt 1883

References

Secondary

• Scruton, Roger,"Gierke and the corporate person" in The Philosopher on Dover Beach, Manchester, Carcanet Press, 1990. ISBN 0-85635-857-6

External links

• Brian Caplan: Otto von Gierke
• Political Theories of the Middle Ages

Persondata
Name	Gierke, Otto Von
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 January 1841
Place of birth
Date of death	October 10, 1921
Place of death