Gerhard Anschütz (10 January 1867 in

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...

– 14 April 1948 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) was a noted

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

teacher of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

and the leading commentator of the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...

. His principal work (with Richard Thoma) is the two-volume legal encyclopedia ''Handbuch des deutschen Staatsrechts''; his constitutional commentary saw 14 editions during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

Anschütz, a proponent of

legal positivism Legal positivism (as understood in the Anglosphere) is a school of thought of analytical jurisprudence developed largely by legal philosophers during the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Jeremy Bentham and John Austin. While Bentham and Austin de ...

, taught constitutional law in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

(after 1899),

(1900),

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

(1908) and again Heidelberg (1916). A Democrat by conviction even during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he resigned his teaching position in 1933 after the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s seized power. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as a consultant to the US military government and in this position was one of the fathers of the constitution of the Bundesland

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Selected literature

* Georg Meyer, ''Lehrbuch des Deutschen Staatsrechts'', bearbeitet von Gerhard Anschütz, 6. Auflage, Leipzig, 1905 * Gerhard Anschütz: ''Rezension von Hugo Preuß: Das deutsche Volk und die Politik'', in: Preußische Jahrbücher, S. 164, 1916 * Gerhard Anschütz und Richard Thoma (Hrsg.): ''Handbuch des deutschen Staatsrechts'', 2 Bände, Tübingen 1932. * Gerhard Anschütz: ''Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches vom 11. August 1919''. Ein Kommentar für Wissenschaft und Praxis, 14. Aufl., Berlin 1933 * Gerhard Anschütz, ''Aus meinen Leben''. Erinnerungen von Gerhard Anschütz, herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Walter Pauly, Frankfurt/Main (1993)

References

* 1867 births 1948 deaths Jurists from Saxony-Anhalt Writers from Halle (Saale) People from the Province of Saxony Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Academic staff of Heidelberg University Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin 20th-century jurists {{Germany-academic-bio-stub

Selected literature

Further reading

References