mpilhlt at the 43. ‘Rechtshistorikertag’ in Zurich

More than 150 legal historians met in Zurich at the 43rd Rechtshistorikertag, which this year was held again as a face-to-face event. The programme was dedicated to ‘The forms of validity of law’ and brought together lectures from areas and epochs of legal history as diverse as the legal framing of the destruction of cities in antiquity and debates on diminished responsibility between legal and psychiatric experts in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Researchers from the mpilhlt played an active part in the conference. Peter Collin discussed the ‘Ambivalences of the understanding of arbitration (Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries’ using the example of the German social insurance arbitration courts. Thomas Duve moderated the international plenary lecture by Lauren Benton, who joined the conference online from New Haven and presented her reflections on ‘Interpolity law through imperial eyes’. One of the highlights of the conference was the panel discussion on ‘The future of the Rechtshistorikertag’, in which Marietta Auer took part. In addition to the issue of how to further increase internationalisation, she emphasised the need for the greater involvement of early-career researchers.

All participants agreed that the opportunity for collegial exchange also in between the formal sessions is essential to one's own work and to the discipline as a whole, and is what makes participating in this conference so worthwhile. Thus, many colleagues met at the mpilhlt’s book stand before and after the lectures to discuss our new publications.

The 44th Rechtshistorikertag is scheduled to take place in Frankfurt in 2024.