Jacob Friedrich Behrend
Encyclopedia
----
Jacob/Jakob Friedrich Behrend (born at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, 13 September 1833 - 9 January 1907) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

. His father was Friedrich Jakob Behrend, a German physician.

He finished his studies in his native city at the university. He became "Gerichtsassessor" in 1859; but, deciding upon a scholastic career, he became privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...

at the Berlin University in 1864. The first-fruit of his research was the Magdeburger Fragen, edited by him, and published in Berlin, 1865. This 300-page treatise is a critical treatment of the manuscripts which are in existence under this name, and are traced by him to a Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n origin of about the period from 1386 to 1402, and dealing with the "Schöffen-Recht." The next product of his industry in the same direction was Ein Stendaler Urtheilsbuch aus dem 14ten Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1868. This consists of thirty-one decisions of the Magdeburger Schöffenstuhl, published for the first time from a manuscript in the Royal Library, Berlin. Each decision is furnished with an exhaustive commentary. It was received by juridical scholars as a perfect model of such work.

Behrend became associate professor of jurisprudence at Berlin University in 1870. In the following year he assumed the editorial management of the Zeitschrift für die Deutsche Gesetzgebung und für Einheitliches Deutsches Recht. In 1873 Felix Dahn
Felix Dahn
Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn was a German lawyer, author and historian.-Biography:Julius Sophus Felix Dahn was born in Hamburg as the oldest son of Friedrich and Constanze Dahn who were notable actors at the city's theatre. The family had both German and French roots...

 was associated with him in this magazine, the title of which was changed in 1875 to Zeitschrift für Gesetzgebung und Rechtspflege in Preussen. A treatise by him, Zum Prozess der Lex Salica, appeared in the Festgaben für A. W. Heffter, Berlin, 1873; and in the same year he issued his masterly contribution to the literature of the law of stock corporation
Stock corporation
A stock corporation is a for-profit corporation which the ownership of the corporation is expressed by shares of stock. This allows for the ownership of the corporation to be readily determined, as shares are property, and are transferrable as any other property such as money, subject to any...

s, Ein Gutachten über die Aktiengesellschaften, which was published in the Schriften des Vereins für Social-Politik, Leipzig, 1873. That year was memorable, too, for his having received a call from the University of Greifswald as professor of jurisprudence, which he accepted.

His next important production, and probably his most substantial contribution of permanent value, to legal literature is the Lex Salica, Nebst den Capitularien zur Lex Salica, bearbeitet von Alf. Boretius, xxiii. 164, Berlin, 1874. The scholarly and exhaustive manner in which Behrend proposed the task of editing critically the manuscripts of this code of laws of the early Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 is attested by the fact that a revised and enlarged edition was issued twenty-three years later; viz., at Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

 in 1897.

In 1880 the publication of Behrend's Lehrbuch des Handelsrechts, designed to be comprised in two volumes, was begun in serial form by the issue of the first Lieferung of 192 pages. Its great importance was immediately recognized as being the first comprehensive scientific exposition of German commercial law
Commercial law
Commercial law is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions...

. The production of this vast undertaking was, however, a slow process. In sixteen years six parts were issued, completing the first volume of nearly 1,000 pages. Another of Behrend's works worthy of mention is Anevang und Erbengewere, Berlin, 1885. In 1888 he received the appointment of "Reichsgerichtsrath" in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, a judicial position in the highest court in Germany. The Order of the Red Eagle
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements...

(second class) was conferred upon Behrend in October 1900.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK