Peter Reichensperger (b. at

Coblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its name ...

, 28 May 1810 - d. at Berlin, 31 December 1892) was a German jurist and parliamentarian for Centre Party.

Life

He studied at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and

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 ...

, and was successively counsellor at Coblenz (1843), of the court of appeal at

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

(1850), and of the supreme court of Berlin (1859) until its dissolution (1879). From 1848 he was active as a parliamentarian in the Prussian Diet, the Erfurt Volkshaus, the Prussian second chamber (1849), the constituent North-German Reichstag (1857), the Customs' 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 August Reichensperger (22 March 180816 July 1895) was a German Catholic politician from the city of Koblenz. Life Reichensperger studied law and entered government service, becoming counsellor to the court of appeal (''Appellationsgerichtsrat'') ...

, and, like the latter, he defended the Rhenish system of laws against the minister von Kamptz ("Oeffentlichkeit, Mündlichkeit und Schwurgerichte", 1834). Like his brother he collaborated with the author in de 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 A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

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 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.

References

* which in turn cites: **Gorres in ''Staatslexikon der Gorresgesellschaft'' (3rd ed., 1911)

External links