Municipal law / Local legislation

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Municipal law (see soft picture right, see Wigbold), originally the imperial or nationalwonderful Privilegium, whereby a municipality was raised to the city; then epitome of the right sets, also contrary to the Landrecht, valid in a city, which was specified mostly by the national rule.

The municipal law usual in the Central European area probably originally decreases/goes back to Italian models, which were aligned for their part at the traditions of the urban autonomy of the Roman antique ones.

In the today's German-speaking countries there is no more municipal law in the actual sense, i.e. national principles and/or laws of the Lands of the Federal Republic regulate the autonomy in the cities (see Gemeindeordnung). The municipal law award, i.e. the collection of a municipality to the city, are exercised in Germany today likewise by the Lands of the Federal Republic and depend primarily on the tasks, which a municipality takes over and/or can take over.

History of the German municipal law

The meaning of the German municipal law within the holy Roman realm of German nation as a condition in the international comparison special of the urban autonomy as well as in connection with the German east settlement in the Middle Ages and not least the exemplaryness of the German municipal law for city (new) establishments in the Eastern European area, justify an emphasis of the German municipal law tradition in relation to municipal law history in other areas.

Municipal rights originated in to 10 in Germany since that. Century, and it were standardized thereby not only private law conditions, but also thes subject of the public right. Often the right of a city was rezipiert more or less completely by others; so municipal rights of Soest, Dortmund, Minden, and other cities, completely particularly however municipal rights of Magdeburg, Luebeck and Cologne. The municipal law was for his part derived from the Soester right thereby.

The right won the coastal lines from Schleswig up to the easternmost German settlements, the Magdeburger right inland until the Schlesien, the Slowakei and Poland in and spread as Kulmer right over completely Prussia in the sense of the German medal country. In Poland the Magdeburger municipal law was the generally obligatory.

The municipal law played an important role during the German east settlement in the Middle Ages: Kolonisten were enlisted under the condition (or it settled independently) that they could keep their own right in the places created by them. Municipal rights were taken over only later also by cities, whose population was not no longer German-language (east Poland, Lithuania, western Russia) or M¤hren

From the today's point of view it is remarkable that a closed settlement could be quite divided into different municipal law areas. Numerous today's German cities developed from such settlements, those in the sense of right originally several cities covered (e.g. Hildesheim, Braunschweig).

The assumption of a municipal law usually meant the acknowledgment of the delivering city as right suburb; e.g. Magdeburg was right suburb for the cities with Magdeburger right. The there juror chair decided thereby on right ambiguity in the cities beliehenen with the Magdeburger right. So it is to be among other things also explained that admits certain municipal rights under different names are, although they originally originate from the same source: The name does not mark then the original right origin, but the recognized right suburb.

Due to the transformation of territorial conditions as well as the right terms changes of municipal rights became necessary. Thus 15 developed in the course. , 16. and 17. Century at many places improved municipal rights, "reformations so mentioned", whereby however under effect of the lawyers more and more Roman right was interfered. Last old municipal rights had to yield at the same time with the own jurisdiction and the autonomy of the cities up to poor remainders of the authority of the national gentlemen. With the realm deputation main conclusion 1803 also nearly everything was mediatisiert up to then 51 realm-free cities, subordinated thus to a national rule. With the remaining free cities Frankfurt, Bremen, Hamburg and Luebeck are converted the municipal law in the long run into self-national right. Only for family and vomit individual statutes of old municipal rights (statutes) up to the entry into force of the BGB on 1 January 1900 kept. The today's rights of the cities Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin are federal state laws.

Municipal law internationally

Literature

Meyers encyclopedia, 4. Edition of 1888-1890. (Source of the origin version of the article)
HAASE, Carl (Hg.): The city of the Middle Ages. Bd. 1: Term, emergence and propagation. Darmstadt (Wiss. Buchges.) 1978.
ISENMANN, Eberhard: The German city in the late Middle Ages, 1250-1500, municipal law, right, city regiment, church, society, economics (UTB for science, large one row), publishing house Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 1988.
PATZE, Hans: Town foundation and municipal law. In: Quite and writing in the Middle Ages. Hg. v. Peter Classen. (Lectures and research 23). 1977. P. 163 - 196.