The Reichsgericht, literally the Reich Court, was the supreme court of the German Reich and sat in Leipzig from 1879 until 1945, so it served through the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Nazi period. It began work on 1 October 1879, when the Imperial Judiciary Acts took effect and standardised court types and procedure across the Reich. It heard civil and criminal appeals, tried charges of treason, and from 1920 ruled on whether state laws were compatible with Reich law, but it had no military cases. Its major rulings tended to be conservative, including the 1907 treason conviction of Karl Liebknecht, and under National Socialism it upheld racist laws. The Allies dissolved it in 1945 and the Federal Court of Justice took over its tasks in 1950.
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Jurisdiction Scope (category) Jurisdiction Scope (category) Founding Year Connections
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Source Reichsgericht (source article)Lead, first sentenceQuote, Lead, first sentence
was the Supreme Court of the German Reich based in Leipzig from 1879 to 1945
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Source Reichsgericht (source article)Lead, first sentenceQuote, Lead, first sentence
was the Supreme Court of the German Reich based in Leipzig from 1879 to 1945
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1. Reichsgericht (source article)
Lead, second paragraph
The Reichsgericht began its work on 1 October 1879, when the Reichsjustizgesetze (Imperial Judiciary Acts) came into effect.
Lead, first sentence
was the Supreme Court of the German Reich based in Leipzig from 1879 to 1945
In Legal System: German Legal System, Case law, Empire
Its task was to ensure uniformity of jurisprudence throughout the territory of the German Empire.
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