HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF GERMAN PRIVATE LAW AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAZILIAN PRIVATE LAW

Abstract

This article conducts a panoramic study of the historical evolution of
German private law, highlighting its relevance to Brazilian law. Therefore, it uses
a descriptive and deductive methodology, based primarily on bibliographic and
legislative research. The text starts from Romans law reception by the Germanic
states, going through the period influenced by the Enlightenment, the emergence
of the Historical School, the Science of Pandects, and the Jurisprudence
of Interests. It analyzes the codification movement, which culminated in the
creation of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), and the developments in private
law, that occurred during the Weimar Republic, in the National Socialist period,
after the Second World War, and the present day. The situation of private law
is briefly examined in West Germany, in East Germany, and after the country’s
reunification. Finally, the research addresses the Europeanization of private law.