Capitalism has once again become a controversial topic in public discourse since the financial crisis of 2008 at the latest. And not only since Karl Marx have "law" and "state" been instrumentalized in different ways for this form of economic activity. To this day, however, there is a lack of empirical studies on how legal orders in legal practice behave in relation to capitalism: It should come as no surprise that law played (and continues to play) a central role in the development of capitalism. But how law concretely shaped capitalist economic activity, and how, conversely, "capitalism" affected "law", remains largely open. Which legal institutions are necessary to initiate or facilitate capitalist action? How and with what success is law used to react to crises (inherent in capitalism)? How is the interdependence between the political system, jurisprudence and economic action shaped in this context? The project aims to explore these questions on the basis of a systematic investigation of legal actors and legal conflicts in the expansion phase of capitalist markets in Germany in the 19th century. The period between 1800 and 1900 promises not only considerable economic, but also legal dynamics, with which both the establishment and transformation of law for capitalist actors can be analyzed and the binding power and assertiveness of law can be reconstructed.

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