Alfons Bürge

Alfons Bürge is a Swiss scholar of Ancient Law, with a special interest in the comparative study of Ancient and Modern Law.

Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, in 1947, Bürge studied the Classics at the University of Zurich. He received his Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Zurich in 1972 with a dissertation on the defense speech Pro Murena by Cicero (directed by Professor Heinz Haffter). His work on Cicero led him to scholarly interest in Roman law, and so he went on to study under Professor Max Kaser at the University of Salzburg and then he completed a doctorate at the University of Zurich in 1979 with a dissertation on Retentio in Roman law (directed by Professor Hans Peter). From 2009 to 2011, Bürge served as Dean of the Juristic Faculty at LMU Munich. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna. He received emeritus status at LMU Munich in 2013.

Selected publications Die Juristenkomik in Ciceros Rede Pro Murena: Übersetzung und Kommentar (Zürich: Juris, 1974) Retentio im römischen Sachen- und Obligationenrecht (= Zürcher Studien zur Rechtsgeschichte. Bd. 3) (Zürich: Schulthess, 1979) Rechtsdogmatik und Wirtschaft: Das richterliche Moderationsrecht beim sittenwidrigen Rechtsgeschäft im Rechtsvergleich. Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Schweiz – Österreich – Frankreich (= Schriften zum Bürgerlichen Recht. Bd. 102) (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1987) Das französische Privatrecht im 19. Jahrhundert: Zwischen Tradition und Pandektenwissenschaft, Liberalismus und Etatismus (= Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte. Bd. 52) (Frankfurt: Klostermann, 1991) Römisches Privatrecht: Rechtsdenken und gesellschaftliche Verankerung. Eine Einführung (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1999)