Gustav Radbruch

Gustav Radbruch, born November 21, 1878 in Lübeck; died November 23, 1949 in Heidelberg, was a German law professor and political figure.

Life

Radbruch studied law in Munich, Leipzig and Berlin. He passed his first bar exam ("Staatsexamen") in Berlin in 1901, and the following year he received his doctorate with a disseration on "The lessons of adequate Causation." This was followed in 1903 by his qualification to teach criminal law in Heidelberg. In 1904, he was appointed Professor of Criminal and Trial Law and Legal Philosophy in Heidelberg. In 1914 he accepted a call to a professorship in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad), and in 1914 he accepted one at Kiel.

Related Topics:
Staatsexamen - Königsberg - Kaliningrad - Kiel

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Radbruch was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and held a seat in the Reichstag from 1920 to 1924. In 1921-22 and throughout 1923, he was Justice Minister in the cabinets of Joseph Wirth and Gustav Stresemann. During his time in office, a number of important laws were implemented, such as those giving women access to the justice system, and, after the assassination of Walter Rathenau, the Law for the Protection of the Republic.

Related Topics:
Social Democratic Party of Germany - Reichstag - Joseph Wirth - Gustav Stresemann - Walter Rathenau

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In 1926, Radbruch accepted a renewed call to lecture at Heidelberg. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Radbruch was dismissed from his civil service post, as the universities were public entities. During the Nazi period, he devoted himself primarily to cultural-historical work. Immediately after the end of the Second World War in 1945, he resumed his teaching activities, but died in 1949 without being able to complete his planned updated edition of his textbook on legal philosophy.

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