Friedrich Karl von Savigny

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Savigny, Friedrich Karl von (Frankfurt/Main, 1779-1861, Berlin), German jurist, became a professor at Marburg University in 1802, and at Landshut in 1808. He was one of the group of distinguished professors appointed in 1810 to the newly founded University of Berlin. A brother-in-law of Clemens Brentano and Bettina von Arnim (he married their sister Kunigunde), he was in close touch and sympathy with the Romantic poets, including L. J. von Arnim and the brothers Grimm. His ability and eminence led to official appointments, in 1817 as a member of the Prussian State Council (Staatsrat) and in 1842 as Minister for the Revision of Legislation, a portfolio which he held until 1848. His principal works are Das Recht des Besitzes (1806, reissued together with the first publication of an earlier work, Juristische Methodenlehre, ed. G. Wesenberg, 1951), Vom Beruf unserer Zeit für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft (1815), Geschichte des römischen Rechts im Mittelalter (6 vols., 1815-31, reissued in the 7 vols. of a later edition, 1956), System des heutigen römischen Rechts (8 vols., 1840-9, reissued 1971), and Das Obligationsrecht (2 vols., 1851-3, reissued 1971).

Savigny was joint editor of the Zeitschrift für geschichtliche Rechtswissenschaft (1815-50) and is regarded in Germany as the father of historical jurisprudence. Vermischte Schriften (5 vols.) appeared in 1850 (reissued 1968).