Book Reviews

Ulrich Gassner, Heinrich Triepel. Leben und Werk, Tübinger Schriften zum Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht, No. 51. Berlin: 1999.

The work of Heinrich Triepel (1868-1946) has been overshadowed by the political antagonists, Hermann Heller and Carl Schmitt. Nevertheless, it was probably this relative lack of prominence, combined with his political neutrality and his great reputation, that enabled him in 1922 to establish the influential association of German public law teachers and to become their first chairman. This new biography, written by Ulrich Gassner, fills a historiographical lacuna and provides a thorough investigation of the man and his work.

The first one-third of this well-written book reveals the life of an especially successful German public lawyer. The author's thorough research has enabled him to give a deep insight into academic life in the imperial, the inter-war, and the Nazi periods. Here and in the second part of the book, where Triepel's publications are presented, the book gives innumerable interesting and revealing details without being verbose or irrelevant. After a discussion of Triepel's work, the author examines the impact on Triepel's evolving theory and the science. The author has studied closely the reaction of Triepel's contemporaries as well as of later legal and historical writings, and this research has led the author into the heart of dogmatic and political reasoning of the period. The author examines topics individually and presents Triepel's thoughts in chronological order. Despite the exceedingly large number of Triepel's publications, they are all carefully analysed and considered together with a substantial amount of secondary literature. Because of the depth of the author's scholarship, characteristic of a true German Habilitationsschrift, Gassner's book will serve as a reference tool for German public law scholars for many years to come.

The book is a storehouse of ideas and subjects: public lawyers as well as historians will find much inspiration here. As a public lawyer, the author stresses the Triepel's importance for the foundation of the present German Constitution. More evident is Triepel's impact on the Weimar Constitution, as a member of the Verein `Recht und Wirtschaft' (Society of `Law and Economy'), created as a pressure group to influence the constitution-making process. Triepel's writings on public international law are also presented in context with some contemporary authors. The investigation of Triepel's methodological approach is given due importance, from which it is clear that Triepel adapted the approach of his colleagues at Tübingen, such as Philipp Heck and Max von Ruemelin, and first applied `jurisprudence according to interests' to public law. Research has been done on public law methodologies in the nineteenth century and during the Weimar era, and this book fills the gap by covering the later imperial period. The author's suggestion regarding the influence of the philosophers Scheler and Hartmann in the subsequent years is entirely convincing.

It is particularly difficult to assess to what extent Triepel was involved in the Nazi period. He was more a conservative than a national socialist, and his writing in 1925 on the Germanic legal tradition of leadership (p. 329) has to be seen in this light. But his famous notion of the `legal revolution' in 1933 helped to legitimate the new regime and shows at least a considerable inclination by Triepel in the regime's favour. Although Triepel retired in 1935, he nevertheless published a book on hegemony in 1938, in which he tried to define the legal role of the Führer and hegemonic countries. He, along with other writers of his time, characterized leadership as something voluntarily accepted by the people, which imperialism could impose only by force. Such critical remarks on imperialism were quite common and thus cannot be regarded as bold opposition to the regime (p. 340). In a period in which public lawyers vied for official recognition and favours, critical remarks on the method and the orthodoxy of legal research were widespread. It may be possible, therefore, to call Triepel's book on hegemony an outstanding scholarly achievement (p. 350), but only if the same accolade is given to the writings of Carl Schmitt. This point deserves further research.

The above criticisms show again that writing a biography is a thankless task, as generally too many topics are raised which cannot all be dealt with equally successfully. The criticism, however, only proves the inspiration of such exhaustive research for which we must thank the author.

© 1990-2004 European Journal of International Law
All comments and suggestions should be sent to webmaster
This site is part of the Academy of European Law online, a joint partnership of the Jean Monnet Center at NYU School of Law and the Academy of European Law at the European University Institute.
This file was last modified: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 11:57AM