Wolfgang Kunkel

Last updated

Wolfgang Kunkel (1902-1981) was a prominent German historian of Roman law, who stressed the importance of Roman social history in understanding Roman law and institutions. [1]

Born in Fürth, Germany, Kunkel studied law and history at the Goethe University Frankfurt, the University of Giessen, and the University of Berlin. He received his doctorate in 1924 at the University of Freiburg and his Habilitation in 1926 (both were directed by Professor Ernst Levy). [2] In 1929, Kunkel accepted a position as Professor at the University of Göttingen. There he worked with the prominent classical scholars Eduard Fraenkel, Hermann Frankel, and Kurt Latte. [3] When those scholars were ousted from their positions by the Nazi government because they were Jewish, Kunkel protested. [4] In 1936, Kunkel accepted a position at the University of Bonn and in 1943 at the University of Heidelberg. During World War II he served as a judge in the German Army, where he followed his own ethical principles and was able to prevent several injustices. [5] After the end of the war, he took up his position at the University of Heidelberg and then was appointed Rector of the University of Heidelberg in 1947/1948. He moved to the University of Munich in 1956 and renamed the Institute for Papyrus Research and Ancient Legal History the Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research in honor of the Austrian historian of Roman law Leopold Wenger (also an Anti-Nazi). [6]

Kunkel was a prolific and influential scholar. Throughout his career, he wrote, edited, or co-edited eleven books and also authored over 60 articles. [7] His most influential books were Römische Rechtsgeschichte (originally published in 1948, and then went through seven editions (and which was translated into Dutch, English, Spanish, and Italian) and his Herkunft und soziale Stellung der römischen Juristen (originally published in Weimar in 1952, 2nd corrected and expanded edition published in Graz in 1967).

Many of Kunkel's students would go on to be leaders in the field of the study of Roman law. [8] After his retirement in 1970, his former student Dieter Nörr succeeded him as director of the Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor</span> Holy Roman Emperor from 1711 to 1740

Charles VI was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain following the death of his relative, Charles II. In 1708, he married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, by whom he had his four children: Leopold Johann, Maria Theresa, Maria Anna, and Maria Amalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Friedrich Puchta</span> German jurist (1798–1846)

Georg Friedrich Puchta was an important German Legal scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veitel Heine Ephraim</span> German court official (1703–1775)

Veitel Heine Ephraim was a jeweller, silk entrepreneur, minmaster, and the chairman of the Jewish congregation in Berlin/Prussia. During the Seven Years' War, Frederick the Great devalued the Prussian coin five times in order to finance the war; debased coins were produced with the help from Ephraim and Daniel Itzig, and spread outside Prussia: in Saxony, Poland, and Kurland. Ephraim and his companion Itzig became infamous for adding copper, up to 70%, so as to debase the coins, which became known as Ephraimiten. Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann, Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, and Leendert Pieter de Neufville also cooperated in the debasement policy. The king's coinage policy became a key element of war financing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Corcoran</span>

Simon Corcoran is a British ancient historian and lecturer in ancient history within the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Schmölders</span>

Claudia Schmölders, also Claudia Henn-Schmölders is a German cultural scholar, author, and translator.

Heinrich Gottfried Philipp Gengler was a German historian of law, Geheimrat and academic lecturer.

Ernst Levy was a German American legal scholar and historian of law. He was a Professor of Roman Law at the Goethe University Frankfurt (1919–1928) and the University of Heidelberg (1928–1935). Being Jewish, he was forced to retire in 1935, and decided to emigrate from Nazi Germany to the United States. At the University of Washington, he was a Professor of Law and History from 1937 to 1952.

Johannes Platschek is a German legal scholar. His research interests include Hellenistic Legal History, Roman Civil Procedure, ancient civil law appearing in non-legal sources, and the textual criticism of the Roman jurists writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Burnitz</span> German painter (1824–1886)

Carl Peter Burnitz was a German landscape painter who began as a lawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Stroux</span> German classicist and scholar of Roman law (1886–1954)

Johannes Stroux was a German classicist, scholar of Roman law and organizer of scientific projects and organizations. In 1945 he became rector of the Berlin University and president of the Berlin Academy of Science.

Dieter Nörr was a German scholar of Ancient Law. He studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 1949 to 1953. After receiving his doctorate with a dissertation on criminal law in the Code of Hammurabi, Nörr undertook postdoctoral study at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Rome. He worked for a year as a post-doctoral assistant at the Institute for Criminal Law and Legal Philosophy under Karl Engisch. He received his Habilitation at the University of Munich, under Professor Wolfgang Kunkel, in 1959 with a work on Byzantine Contract Law and was promoted to Privatdozent. He then accepted the Chair of Roman and Civil Law at the University of Hamburg. In 1960, Nörr became Full Professor at the University of Münster. After he declined positions at the Universities of Hamburg, Tübingen, and Bielefeld, he returned to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich as Professor, Chair of Roman Law, and Director of the Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research. His brother, Knut Wolfgang Nörr, was also a Professor of Legal History, especially Canon Law, at the University of Tübingen.

Leopold Wenger was a prominent Austrian historian of ancient law. He fostered interdisciplinary study of the ancient world.

The Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research is an institute of the law school of the University of Munich. It traces itself back to the Seminar for Papyrus Research founded by Professor Leopold Wenger in 1909. It was renamed the “Leopold Wenger Institute for Legal History and Papyrus Research” in Wenger’s honor in 1956, under the direction of Wolfgang Kunkel. Added to this was the acquisition of the surviving holdings of Wenger’s colleague Professor Mariano San Nicolò. Kunkel’s work in building the institute’s library was also supported by Johannes von Elmenau at the Bavarian Ministry of Culture and the Society of Friends and Supporters of the University of Munich e.V..

Alfons Bürge is a Swiss scholar of Ancient Law, with a special interest in the comparative study of Ancient and Modern Law.

Tycho Quirinus Mrsich was a German scholar of Ancient Egyptian law.

Hubert Kaufhold is a German legal scholar and judge, with special research interests in the languages and legal history of the Christian Orient.

Max Kaser was a German professor of Jurisprudence who taught successively at the universities of Münster, Hamburg and Salzburg. The principal focus of his scholarship and teaching was on Roman law. He became a member of a number of learned societies. In addition, between 1958 and 1992 he was awarded honorary doctorates by no fewer than ten different universities on three different continents. An eleventh honorary doctorate, from the Jurisprudence faculty at the University of Regensburg, was awarded only posthumously, however, in 1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl von Amira</span> German legal historian

Karl Konrad Ferdinand Maria von Amira was a German jurist who served as Professor of Constitutional Law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He was a known expert on early Germanic law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erich Marcks (historian)</span> German historian (1861–1938)

Erich Marcks was a German historian.

Werner Flume was a German jurist and professor of Roman law, private law, tax law and a legal historian. He has significantly influenced the modern development of German private law and has been called a "lawyer of the century" for his contributions.

References

  1. ↑ See Helmut Coing, “In memoriam Wolfgang Kunkel †,” Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Romanistische Abteilung) 98 (1981), pp. III–XVI; Dieter Nörr, “Kunkel, Wolfgang,” in "Neue Deutsche Biographie" 13 (Berlin, 1982), p. 298; Dieter Nörr, Wolfgang Kunkel 20.11.1902–8.5.1981,” in Dieter Nörr and Dieter Simon, eds., Gedächtnisschrift für Wolfgang Kunkel (Frankfurt 1984), pp. 9-24; Fritz Sturm, “Wolfgang Kunkel zum Gedächtnis,“ Bullettino dell’Istituto di Diritto Romano 25/26 (1984), pp. 17–35.
  2. ↑ Dieter Nörr, “Kunkel, Wolfgang,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 13 (Berlin, 1982), p. 298; available online at: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd116610751.html#ndbcontent
  3. ↑ Dieter Nörr, “Kunkel, Wolfgang,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 13 (Berlin, 1982), p. 298 ff.; available online at: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd116610751.html#ndbcontent
  4. ↑ Dorothee Mußgnug, ed., Ernst Levy und Wolfgang Kunkel. Briefwechsel 1922–1968 (Heidelberg, 2005).
  5. ↑ Fritz Sturm, “Wolfgang Kunkel zum Gedächtnis, “ Bullettino dell’Istituto di Diritto Romano 25/26 (1984), pp. 17–35.
  6. ↑ See Anke Sauter, “Pionier der juristischen Papyrlogie,” Unser Bayern: Heimatbeilage der Bayerischen Staatszeitung 52, n. 7 (July, 2003), p. 104.
  7. ↑ See his bibliography at: https://www.jura.uni-muenchen.de/fakultaet/institute/leo-weng/lwi_abteilung_a/history/kunkel/index.html
  8. ↑ Dieter Nörr, “Kunkel, Wolfgang,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 13 (Berlin, 1982), p. 298 ff.; available online at: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd116610751.html#ndbcontent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.