:''This is an article about a school of thought in the area of law. For economics, see

historical school of economics The historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in the 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century. The professors involved compiled massive econ ...

.'' The German Historical School of Jurisprudence is a 19th-century intellectual movement in the study of German law. With Romanticism as its background, it conceived of law as the organic expression of a national consciousness (''

Volksgeist ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. Its semantic field corresponds to English ghost, spirit, mind, intellect. Some English translators resort to using "spirit/mind" or "spirit (mind)" to he ...

''). It stood in opposition to an earlier movement called ''Vernunftrecht'' (Rational Law).

Overview

The Historical School is based on the writings and teachings of

Gustav von Hugo Gustav Hugo (23 November 1764 – 15 September 1844) was a German jurist. Biography Hugo was born at Lörrach in Baden. From the gymnasium at Karlsruhe he passed in 1782 to the University of Göttingen, where he studied law for three years. Hav ...

and especially

Friedrich Carl von Savigny Friedrich Carl von Savigny (21 February 1779 – 25 October 1861) was a German jurist and historian. Early life and education Savigny was born at Frankfurt am Main, of a family recorded in the history of Lorraine, deriving its name from the cast ...

Natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

yers held that law could be discovered only by rational deduction from the nature of man. The basic premise of the German Historical School is that law is not to be regarded as an arbitrary grouping of regulations laid down by some authority. Rather, those regulations are to be seen as the expression of the convictions of the people, in the same manner as language, customs and practices are expressions of the people. The law is grounded in a form of popular consciousness called the ''

''. Laws can stem from regulations by the authorities, but more commonly they evolve in an organic manner over time without interference from the authorities. The ever-changing practical needs of the people play a very important role in this continual organic development. In the development of a legal system, is it the professional duty of lawyers – in the sense of the division of labor in society – to base their academic work on law on ascertaining the will of the people. In this way, lawyers embody the popular will. The German Historical School was divided into Romanists and the Germanists. The Romanists, to whom Savigny also belonged, held that the ''Volksgeist'' springs from the reception of the

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

. While the Germanists (

Karl Friedrich Eichhorn Karl Friedrich Eichhorn (20 November 1781 – 4 July 1854) was a German jurist. Eichhorn was born in Jena as the son of Johann Gottfried Eichhorn. He entered the University of Göttingen in 1797. In 1805 he obtained the professorship of law at Fr ...

Jakob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of the ...

Georg Beseler Carl Georg Christoph Beseler (2 November 1809 in Rödemis, now part of Husum – 28 August 1888 in Bad Harzburg) was a Prussian jurist and politician. Beseler studied law at Kiel and Munich. He was forbidden to teach law in Kiel in 1833 due to h ...

Otto von Gierke Otto Friedrich von Gierke, born Otto Friedrich Gierke (11 January 1841 – 10 October 1921) was a German legal scholar and historian. He is considered today as one of the most influential and important legal scholars of the 19th and 20th century. ...

) saw medieval German Law as the expression of the German ''Volksgeist''. The German Historical School has had considerable influence on the academic study of law in Germany.

Georg Friedrich Puchta Georg Friedrich Puchta (31 August 17988 January 1846) was an important German Legal scholar. Biography Born on 31 August 1798 at Kadolzburg in Bavaria, Puchta came of an old Bohemian Protestant family which had immigrated into Germany to avoid ...

and

Bernhard Windscheid Bernhard Windscheid (26 June 1817 – 26 October 1892) was a German jurist and a member of the pandectistic school of law thought. He became famous with his essay on the concept of a legal action, which sparkled a debate with that is said to ...

continued the Romanist vein founded by Savigny, leading to the so-called ''Pandektenwissenschaft'' which is seen as ''Begriffsjurisprudenz'' (conceptual jurisprudence).

Criticism

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

devoted an 1842 essay "The philosophical manifesto of the historical school of law" to criticizing the historical school of law, calling it the "sole frivolous product" of the eighteenth century.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Alessandro Hirata, Die Vollendung des usus modernus pandectarum: Christian Friedrich von Glück (1755–1831), Savigny Zeitschrift 123 (2006), 330-342. {{Authority control Philosophy of law Philosophical movements Legal history of Germany

Overview

Criticism

See also

References

Footnotes

Bibliography