Georg Arnold Heise

Georg Arnold Heise (2 August 1778 – 6 February 1851) was an influential German legal scholar. He served as president of the (Lübeck based) Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte (High Court of Appeal of the Four Free Cities) for more than three decades and is identified in certain academic circles as a leading representative of the 19th century German Historical School of Jurisprudence.

Life Georg Arnold Heise was born in Hamburg. He was the eldest of his parents' nine recorded children: after his mother died in 1801 his father remarried and a further three children appeared. His father; Johann Ludwig Barthold Heise (1749–1812), was a Hamburg merchant who lost his wealth thanks to the ruinous economic impact of the world war (as it was frequently known at the time). The father had to abandon his business in 1799 and take employment as a legally authorized agent ("Bevollmächtigter") with an asset management company. The "free cities" in question were Bremen, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Lübeck. After a certain amount of jostling between the politicians involved, the Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte (High Court of Appeal of the four Free Cities) was established in Lübeck in 1820. With effect from its inauguration on 12 November 1820, Georg Arnold Heise accepted the invitation to become the court's first president. Many of the court decisions under Heise's presidency developed commercial law decisively, and in some cases achieved lasting influence as precedents. Heise's influence as an academic lawyer reached far beyond his own students thanks, in large measure, to the influence of his written work. This is particularly the case with his much re-printed Pandectist lectures.

Published works

Several further reprints, most recently in 1997.