German Constitutions and Legal Documents
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EuroDocs > History of Germany: Primary Documents > Constitutions and Legal Documents
General Tools
- (German; facsimiles)
- Collection of German Laws.
- Statutes, criminal and civil codes, and other legal materials.
- A portal of the BYU Law School.
- Library of Congress guide to constitutional, legal and government documents.
- (Transcriptions and translations)
- Cases, statutes, literature and bibliographies on German law in English language.
- (Translations)
- German constitutions
- (1816 - present; transcriptions)
- Video talks, aimed principally at the German people.
- (German videos)
- Federal Archives digitization of cabinet proceedings, previously available only in book form
- Also includes minutes of the Cabinet Committee for Economics and the Cabinet Committee for Social Reform.
- Future book volumes will be followed 18 months later by the digital version.
- (1949-present; German transcriptions)
- Current press briefings, agendas, minutes & reports of the Bundestag.
- (German transcriptions)
- Speeches ["Reden"] and/or interviews ["Interviews"] of the various Bundespräsidenten on various topics for each Bundespräsident since Richard von Weizsäcker.
- (1984 - present; German transcriptions)
National Documents
- This Salian Frankish civil law code has had a lasting impact on the legal tradition of modern German states.
- From the Avalon Project
- (500; English translation)
- Imperial court statutes
- (1555; German; PDF available)
- Imperial decree from shortly after the 30 Years' War
- (1654; transcriptions)
- Johann Christian Lünig's massive collection of legal texts, beginning with the 14th-century Golden Bull and spanning the following centuries.
- (1710-1721; German facsimile)
- Documents of the important jurist digitized by the University of Marburg.
- (1779-1861; facsimiles)
- A major book digitization project of the Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte .
- For an overview of subjects, click on "Systematik"
- (19th century; facsimiles)
- Historic German constitutions (including Hitler's infamous Ermächtigungsgesetz).
- (1815 - present; German transcriptions)
- Reich Law Gazette (with Federal Law Gazette of the North German Confederation)
- (1867-1945; German)
- (Weimar Republic Constitution of 11 August, 1919; German transcription)
- Divided into two sections: laws involving internal affairs and those regulating foreign relations.
- Part of the Austrian National Library's online law texts (ALEX Project).
- (1922-1944; facsimiles)
- Laws and Decrees of the Nazi Era
- (1933-1945; German transcriptions)
- Documents of the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany" and then the unified state)
- (1948 to the present; German transcriptions)
- Prohibition of Communist Party in the Federal Republic
- (August 17, 1956; German transcription)
- (Constitution of April 6, 1968 with revisions through 1974; German transcription)
- German unification treaty.
- (31 August 1990; German transcription)
- Comprehensive and complete online texts of current Federal law
- A cooperative project of the Ministry of Justice and juris GmbH
- Including Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, Strafgesetzbuch and others.
- (Current; German transcriptions and English translations)
- Full-text decisions of the Constitutional Court.
- English translations also available.
- (1998-present; German transcriptions)
- Growing collection of digitized images from among the 11 million images in the Federal Archive.
- Click for advanced search or to browse by topic.
- (19th-20th centuries; image database)
- Grundgesetz (Basic Law) in the German original provided by the German Federal Government.
- (Basic Law) in English translation (with revisions through 2002) provided by the German Federal Government.
- PDF copy of the Basic Law(with revisions through 2000) provided by the Bundestag.
- (May 23, 1949 with revisions through 2010; English translation)
Regional Documents
- (German; facsimiles)
Baden
- Post-Napeonic constitution for the Grand Duchy of Baden
- (22 August 1818; German transcription)
- Regional regulations for Baden-Württemberg
- (2007; facsimiles).
Bavaria
- Digital version of the minutes of the Bavarian parliament of the late middle ages and early modern times.
- Website also available in German.
- (16th-20th centuries; facsimiles)
- Early 16th century criminal statues in Bamberg
- (1507; facsimiles).
- Early 16th century witchcraft statutes published in Augsburg.
- Part of Cornell's Witchcraft Collection.
- (1511; transcriptions).
- Current constitution for the state of Bavaria
- (2 December 1946; German transcription plus English, French and Spanish translations).
- Publication of the postwar Bavarian government
- (1945-1949; facsimiles)
Hannover, Kingdom of
- The constitutional crisis initiated by King Ernst August
- In book format published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- (1837-1839; searchable facsimile pages and downloadable PDF files)
Hessen
- Frankfurt reformation of the sixteenth century
- (1578; facsimiles).
- Constitution for the Grand Duchy of Hessen
- (17 December 1820; German transcription).
- 1831 constitution for the Principality of Hessen
- (5 January 1831; German transcription).
- Documentary information system of the Hessian parliament.
- (1945 to the present; German facsimiles)
Lower Saxony
- Selected manuscripts of the City ordinances of Goslar
- (1350; facsimiles; German).
- (German facsimile with English textual background)
Nürnberg
- Inaugural speech ... held in the commitment and appointment of the new city council (in Nuremberg)
- (1821; German facsimile)
Palatinate
- Regulations for the Palatinate
- (1700; German; facsimiles).
Pomerania
- Municipal laws for Rostock in the late sixteenth century
- (1586; facsimiles of print source).
Saarland
- Constitution for the state of Saarland
- (15 December 1947; German transcription)
Saxony
- (Early 14th century; German facsimiles)
- A set of historical and legal documents (land and fiefdom rights) from Saxony & vicinity.
- (Early 14th century; German facsimiles).
- Constitution for the Kingdom of Saxony
- (4 September 1831; German transcription)
- Historical proceedings of the Saxon state parliament.
- Digitized by the Sächsische Landesbibliothek -- Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden
- (1919-1933 & 1946-1952; facsimiles)
Württemberg
- Post-Napeonic constitution for the Kingdom of Württemberg
- (25 September 1819; German transcription)
- Regional regulations for Baden-Württemberg
- (2007; facsimiles).
EuroDocs > History of Germany: Primary Documents > Constitutions and Legal Documents
EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: Hacken @ byu.edu