Publication in the Reich Law Gazette on August 24, 1896

The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (or BGB) was the civil code of the German Empire and continues to act as the central law for German civil law. Put into effect on January 1, 1900 it had been in development since 1881 and was considered at the time of its creation to be a massive piece of work that was years ahead of its time. Download high resolution version (800x1146, 143 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (800x1146, 143 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A civil code is a book of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. ... The term German Empire (Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

History

German Empire

In 1871, the various German states were united into the German Empire. In the beginning, the single states had the right of legislation on the field of civil law, not the Empire ("Reich") that comprised those states. An amendment to the constitution passed in 1873 (called "Lex Miquel-Lasker" - referring to the amendment's sponsors, representatives Johannes von Miquel and Eduard Lasker) transferred this legislative ability to the Reich. Various committees were then installed to draft a bill that was to become a civil law codification for the entire country, replacing the civil law systems of the states. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The term German Empire (Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... Civil law has at least three meanings. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

After decades of work, which included contributions from many of the most highly-reputed lawyers of the time and benefited greatly from the work previously done on other codifications such as the French Code Civil, the BGB was passed by the Reich legislature in 1896. It was put into effect on January 1, 1900 and has been the central codification of Germany's civil law ever since. The original Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des francais, or civil code of the French), was the French civil code, established at the behest of Napoléon. ... 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... For linguistic codification, see codification (linguistics). ...

Nazi Germany

In Nazi Germany, there were plans to replace the BGB with a new codification that was planned to be entitled "Volksgesetzbuch" ("people's code"), which was meant to reflect Nazi ideology better than the liberal spirit of the BGB, but those plans did not become reality. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Germany since 1945

When Germany was divided into a democratic capitalist state in the West and a socialist party-led state in the East after World War II, the BGB continued to regulate the civil law in both parts of Germany. Step by step, however, the BGB regulations were replaced in East Germany by new laws, beginning with a family code in 1966 and ending with a civil code in 1976 and a contract act in 1982. Since Germany's reunification in 1990, the BGB has again been the codification encompassing the civil law of entire Germany. Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see definitions of capitalism). ... For information on mainstream political parties using the term Socialist, see Social democracy and Democratic socialism,For the governments of the USSR, the PRC, and others, see: Communist state, Other variants of Socialism include Marxism, Communism, and Libertarian Socialism. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a Communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The BGB has been amended many times since it came into existence. The most important changes took place in 2002, when the law of obligations, one of the BGB's five main parts, was largely reformed. Besides, the way the courts construe and interpret the regulations of the code have changed in many ways, and continue to evolve and develop. This is particularly due to the high degree of abstraction throughout the code. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Structure

The BGB contains five main parts("books"):

• the General Part ("Allgemeiner Teil"), sections 1 through 240, comprising regulations that have effect on all the other four parts
• the Law of Obligations ("Recht der Schuldverhältnisse"), sections 241 through 853, describing the various forms of contracts and other obligations between persons, including tort law
• the property law ("Sachenrecht"), sections 854 through 1296, describing possession, property, other rights persons have relating to property, and how those rights can be transferred
• the Family Law ("Familienrecht"), sections 1297 through 1921, describing marriage and other legal relationships among family members
• the Law of Legacies ("Erbrecht"), ruling what happens to the fortune of deceased persons.

In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ...

The Principle of Abstraction

One particularly important and distinguishing element in the system of the BGB is the principle of abstraction (in German legal terminology “Abstraktionsprinzip”, although the word does not appear anywhere in the statute itself), which dominates the entire code and is vital for the understanding of how the BGB treats contracts. One example to clarify this: In the system of the BGB, ownership is not transferred by a contract of sale, as in most other jurisdictions. Instead, a contract of sale merely obliges the seller to transfer ownership of the good sold to the buyer, but the buyer does not automatically gain ownership by virtue of the contract of sale. Section 433 of the BGB explicitly states this obligation of the seller, as well as the buyer's obligation to pay the negotiated price. For transfer of ownership, another contract is necessary which is governed by sections 929 et seq. Thus, in a simple purchase of goods paid immediately in cash, German civil law interprets the transaction as (at least) three contracts: the contract of sale itself, obliging the seller to transfer ownership of the product to the buyer and the buyer to pay the price; a contract that transfers ownership of the product to the buyer, fulfilling the seller’s obligation; and a contract that transfers ownership of the money (bills and coins) from the buyer to the seller, fulfilling the buyer’s obligation. A contract is any legally-enforceable promise or set of promises made by one party to another and, as such, reflects the policies represented by freedom of contract. ...

Although the principle of abstraction is not to be found in jurisdictions outside the German one and contradicts the usual common sense interpretation of commercial transactions, it is undisputed among the German legal community. The main advantage of the principle of abstraction is its ability to provide a secure legal construction to nearly any financial transaction however complicated this transaction may be. A good example is the well known retention of title. If someone buys something and pays the purchase price by installments the system faces two conflicting interests: the buyer wants to have the purchased goods immediately, whereas the vendor wants to secure full payment of the purchase price. With the principle of abstraction the BGB has a simple answer to that: the purchase contract obliges the buyer to pay the full price and requires the vendor to transfer property upon receipt of the last installment. As the obligations and the actual conveyance of ownership are in two different contracts it is quite simple to secure both parties' interests. The vendor keeps the rights to the property up to the last payment and the buyer is the mere holder of the purchased goods. If he fails to pay in full the vendor may reclaim his property just like any other owner.