Georg Beseler

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Carl Georg Christoph Beseler ( November 2, 1809 in Rödemis near Husum – August 28, 1888, Bad Harzburg) was a Prussian jurist and politician.

Beseler studied law at Kiel and München. Forbidden to teach law in Kiel in 1833 due to his political activity, he lectured at Göttingen, and Heidelberg. 1835 he became a professor in Basel, 1837 in Rostock, 1842 in Greifswald and 1859 in Berlin.

A liberal nationalist, Beseler was a member of the Frankfurt Parliament where he participated in writing the failed 1849 German constitution. From 1849 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1887 he was a member of the Prussian House of Lords, 1850 of the Erfurt Union Parliament and 1874 to 1877 of the Reichstag.

As a notable "Germanist" opponent of the "Romanists", led by Savigny, Beseler advocated a "people's law" based on Germanic principles as opposed to the Romanists' "jurists' law". The notions of cooperative law and social law later enunciated by Gierke originate with Beseler. He was also involved in liberalising the codes of civil and criminal procedure, and in crafting the 1851 Prussian criminal code.

[edit] Reference

• Stolleis, Michael (2001). "Carl Georg Christoph Beseler", in Michael Stolleis (ed.): Juristen: ein biographisches Lexikon; von der Antike bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, 2nd edition (in German), München: Beck, 82. ISBN 3406 45957 9. 

[edit] See also

• Works by and about Georg Beseler in the German National Library catalogue

Persondata
NAME	Beseler, Carl Georg Christoph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	German jurist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	2 November 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rödemis near Husum
DATE OF DEATH	28 August 1888
PLACE OF DEATH	Bad Harzburg