The Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research is an institute of the law school of the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

. It traces itself back to the Seminar for Papyrus Research founded by Professor

Leopold Wenger Leopold Wenger (4 September 1874 – 21 September 1953) was a prominent Austrian historian of ancient law. He fostered interdisciplinary study of the ancient world (including law, literature, papyri, and inscriptions). Biography Wenger was born in ...

in 1909 (which was soon renamed the Institute for Papyrus Research and Ancient Legal History). It was renamed the “Leopold Wenger Institute for Legal History and Papyrus Research” in Wenger’s honor in 1956, under the direction of

Wolfgang Kunkel Wolfgang Kunkel (1902-1981) was a prominent German historian of Roman law, who stressed the importance of Roman social history in understanding Roman law and institutions. Born in Fürth, Germany, Kunkel studied law and history at the Goethe Univ ...

(and Wenger's large library became the core of that institute's collections). Added to this was the acquisition of the surviving holdings of Wenger’s colleague Professor Mariano San Nicolò. Kunkel’s work in building the institute’s library was also supported by Johannes von Elmenau at the Bavarian Ministry of Culture and the Society of Friends and Supporters of the University of Munich e.V. (Münchener Universitätsgesellschaft). Together with the Director of the Ancient History Institute of the

, the Director of the Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research is traditionally the co-editor of the monograph series entitled Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechstgeschichte ("Munich Contributions to Papyrus Research and Ancient Legal History”). Recent directors of the Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research include

Dieter Nörr Dieter Nörr (1931 in Munich, Germany – October 3, 2017) was a German scholar of Ancient Law. He studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 1949 to 1953. After receiving his doctorate with a dissertation on criminal law in the Co ...

Alfons Bürge Alfons Bürge is a Swiss scholar of Ancient Law, with a special interest in the comparative study of Ancient and Modern Law. Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, in 1947, Bürge studied the Classics at the University of Zurich. He received his Ph.D. i ...

, and

Johannes Platschek Johannes Platschek (born 1973 in Munich, Germany) is a German legal scholar. His research interests include Hellenistic Legal History, Roman Civil Procedure, ancient civil law appearing in non-legal sources, and the textual criticism of the Roman ...

. In addition to being a teaching resource for classes in ancient law, scholars from throughout world are among the guests and users.

References

{{coord missing, Bavaria Legal history Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Research institutes in Munich