- Peter Reichensperger
Peter Reichensperger (b. at
Coblenz ,28 May 1810 ; d. atBerlin ,31 December 1892 ) was a German jurist and parliamentarian.Life
He studied at
Bonn andHeidelberg , and was successively counsellor at Coblenz (1843), of the court of appeal atCologne (1850), and of the supreme court of Berlin (1859) until its dissolution (1879). From 1848 he was active as a parliamentarian in thePrussian Diet , theErfurt Volkshaus , the Prussian second chamber (1849), the constituentNorth-German Reichstag (1857), theCustoms' Parliament (1868), and the German Reichstag, representing in the last-mentioned the same district from 1871 to his death.He worked closely with his elder brother
August Reichensperger , and, like the latter, he defended theRhenish system of laws against the ministervon Kamptz ("Oeffentlichkeit, Mündlichkeit und Schwurgerichte", 1834). Like his brother he collaborated with the author inde Failly 's much-discussed book ("De la Prusse", 1842), and they jointly drew up a petition for electoral reform (1847). In the same year was published one of his best works: "Die Agrarfrage aus dem Gesichtspunkt der Nationalökonomie, der Politik und des Rechts".In 1858, when a collection of their parliamentary speeches appeared, the brothers published their political programme in the pamphlet "Die Wahlen zum preussischen Abgeordnetenhause", and two years later "Deutschlands nächste Aufgaben für die Zukunft". They defended
constitutional monarchy and religious autonomy. Less versatile than his brother, Peter surpassed him in juristic keenness and intellectual depth.In special writings he combatted the income tax (1850), the abolition of the usury laws (1860), and the corn tax (1887). At the request of the ministry of justice he drafted a mortgage law (1851). Five years later he wrote on free agricultural laws, in 1872 on the relation between Church and State, in 1876 on the and peace between Church and State. In 1882 appeared his experiences of an old parliamentarian in the revolutionary year 1848. Though co-founder and leader of the Centre, he followed in many individual questions his own views, e.g. in the extension of the socialist law and in the question of the
septennate .Reference
*Gorres in "Staatslexikon der Gorresgesellschaft" (3rd ed., 1911)
External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12724a.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia" article]
*de icon [http://www.bbkl.de/r/reichensperger_p_f.shtml BBK page]
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