Otto von Gierke

Otto Friedrich von Gierke was a German legal scholar and historian. In his four-volume magnum opus entitled Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht, he pioneered the study of social groups and the importance of associations in German life, which stood between the divide of private and public law. During his career at Berlin University's law department, Gierke was a leading critic of the newly drafted German Civil Code, arguing that it had been moulded in an individualistic frame that was inconsistent with German social traditions. He helped to advance the concept of social law, over the classical division of public law and private law.