Allgemeines Deutsches Handelsgesetzbuch

The Allgemeines Deutsches Handelsgesetzbuch, or General German Commercial Code, was the first comprehensive commercial code applied across the German Confederation. It was recommended for adoption on May 31, 1861, and took effect as near identical law in the Confederation's member states. It set out rules for merchants and trading activities, representation, and the fulfillment of contracts and purchase agreements, defining a merchant by legally standardized trading activity rather than by professional conduct. In Germany it was superseded by the Handelsgesetzbuch, enacted May 10, 1897, and effective January 1, 1900, alongside the new civil code, though Liechtenstein retained significant parts of it for particular commercial matters and Austria only began replacing it in 1938.