Library of the Institute for Legal History

As the library for the newly founded Institute for German and Rhenish Legal History, the history of this library officially begins with its establishment by Hermann Conrad in 1949. However, it has a prehistory in that the library of Conrad’s predecessor in the chair, Karl August Eckhardt, was acquired first in 1949. This library, however, had not been acquired for Eckhardt by the university, but by the SS-Ahnenerbe, as Himmler provided financial support for Eckhardt’s research, which served the interests of the Nazi regime. The focus of this initial book collection accordingly reflected this political orientation, particularly with regard to Indo-European and early historical research. When he handed over his library to Conrad, Eckhardt requested a receipt, arguing that one could not know when the Nazis might return; the shocked Conrad complied and signed.

The library of a legal history institute can never be complete, making it all the more important to set priorities. A primary focus is evident in the collection of legal codes from the German territories of the early modern period. This applies not only to the larger states such as the Empire and Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony, but also to a collection of laws from the smaller states, which are cataloged in a separate index. In addition, French laws were consistently collected, as was fundamental French literature.

In accordance with the methodological conviction that one must study the sources themselves, legal history textbooks (H) as well as editions of laws—ranging from the MGH through the Reichstag Decrees and the Freiheit-vom-Stein Memorial Edition to modern collections—were acquired (K). Added to this are the collections on Rhenish history, especially since “German” legal history actually begins only with the German Empire. There are few legal history institute libraries that recognize the significance of the region. This was a wise and forward-looking decision made at the institute’s founding. Other special collections reflect the research interests of the institute’s predecessors, such as the history of the university.

In the area of journals, the collection demonstrates, starting with the “Zeitschrift für geschichtliche Rechtswissenschaft,” just how much Bonn’s legal history has traditionally been and remains oriented toward Savigny. Due to the geographical proximity to other institutes engaged in legal history, the institute was able to afford to maintain only a subscription to the ZRG GA until 2019. This allowed it to maintain a selection of other legal history journals, including those from other countries (such as the Revue historique), with the aim of providing legal scholars with foundational information for their research.

The rarities—that is, old legal and legal-historical literature—were initially acquired under Professor Conrad with a strict division of labor among the institutes engaged in legal history: In Roman law, in addition to the ZRG RA and ancient Roman law, common law was also collected; at the Institute of Canon Law, in addition to the ZRG KA, sources of canon law and Protestant church law were acquired.

Only the history and literature of criminal law were collected at the Institute for German Legal History. Constitutional law and other public law materials were primarily acquired when reunification provided the opportunity to obtain additional sources and reprints. In 2003, a small remnant of the historical library of the Reich Postal Office for Prussian administrative law was added (approx. 200 works).

The collection of important textbooks on European legal traditions (M), as well as on the philosophy of law and the state (N) and the history of international law (O), serves the purpose of providing initial access to the various fields of legal history.

A significant addition was the acquisition of Knut Wolfgang Nörr’s canon law and procedural law library (approx. 1,000 volumes) in 2019/20, thereby continuing the Bonn tradition of legal history research from Stephan Kuttner through K.W. Nörr on the one hand, and from M.A. von Bethmann-Hollweg to W. Endemann on the other, to the present day.

The most significant change occurred in 2025 with the acquisition of the historical library of the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig. This strengthened not only the presence of Lower Saxony state law but also that of the Ius Commune. As a result, the legal history libraries no longer consist solely of collections reflecting 20th-century perspectives, but also include the literature necessary for legal work from the 18th to the early 20th century.

The special collections include small-format publications from the Imperial era, particularly dissertations (call number group S). Professor Kleinheyer’s special print collection contains impressive collections of small-format texts on individual (Bonn) researchers.