legal history
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legal history
The academic discipline that deals with the historical development of law, laws, and legal systems.
Im Studium der Rechtsgeschichte lernen wir, wie sich Gesetze über die Jahrhunderte verändert haben.
In the study of legal history, we learn how laws have changed over the centuries.
legal history
The specific historical development of a particular law, legal norm, or legal institution.
Die Rechtsgeschichte des Paragrafen 218 ist besonders komplex und umstritten.
The legal history of Section 218 is especially complex and controversial.
The word is composed of 'Recht' (law) and 'Geschichte' (history). The 's' in the middle is a linking -s that connects the two parts. So the meaning is literally the 'Geschichte des Rechts' (history of law).
Die Rechtsgeschichte zeigt, wie sich unsere Auffassung von Gerechtigkeit verändert hat.
Legal history shows how our understanding of justice has changed.
The two meanings can be recognized from context. If people are speaking generally about a field of study, the academic discipline is meant. If they refer to the development of a specific law, often with a genitive complement, the concrete history is meant.
Er hat sich für das Seminar in mittelalterlicher Rechtsgeschichte eingeschrieben.
He enrolled in the seminar on medieval legal history.
This meaning is used almost exclusively in academic and university settings. Typical combinations are 'Rechtsgeschichte studieren' (to study legal history), 'eine Vorlesung in Rechtsgeschichte besuchen' (to attend a lecture in legal history), or 'ein Professor für Rechtsgeschichte' (a professor of legal history).
Meine Schwester studiert Rechtsgeschichte an der Universität in Berlin.
My sister studies legal history at the university in Berlin.
