Beschluss vom Bundesverfassungsgericht vom 2. April 2004, zu Ebenbürtigkeitsklausel und Eheschließungsfreiheit (RSS-Newsfeed hier).

It’s interesting what cases sometimes come up in court. The press releases of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) now have a newsfeed. This press release (German) is dated April 2nd and relates to a decision of March 22nd. It’s a Beschluss, which means a judgment that was passed without oral argument.

Kaiser Wilhelm II died in 1941. His eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, died in 1951. We’ll call him the deceased (Erblasser) or W. He could be called testator, since he had a will, but the case relates not to the will but to an earlier testamentary disposition (letztwillige Verfügung), a contract of inheritance (Erbvertrag). German law still has these: for example, if a parent wants a particular child to take over the business, a contract can be made while the parent is still alive, indeed often long before the parent is likely to die, guaranteeing funds and to this extent preempting some of the rights of the other heirs.

In 1938, W entered into a contract of inheritance with his second-eldest son, Prinz Louis Ferdinand (just L.F. in the press release!), who died in 1994. This contract provided that the eldest son would continue to be the heir, but only if his marriage was suitable (Ebenbürtigkeitsklausel: equal ranking clause).

The complainant is not named, but he must be Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (FW). He was LF’s eldest son and he applied for a certificate of inheritance (Erbschein – the equivalent to taking out probate) stating that he was the heir to the title. He regarded the equal ranking clause as contrary to public policy (sittenwidrig). It restricted his right to marry to a few aristocratic Protestant women, who themselves had to have been born to marriages that complied with the constitution of the house of Brandenburg-Prussia (Hausverfassung). Continue reading →

Robin and Caro Stocks have moved their weblog to here: Carob. It has an Atom feed now.

And Matt Bulow has reactivated alt0151, also with a feed.

This link comes via Ben Hammersley: BMW’s April 1st idea: ‘Now you can handle your dinner while driving your car’.

bq. Top SHEFTM recipes including Chicken à la M42, and Boeuf
B493 (West)

And Gizmodo has links to a number of April Fool’s gadgets.

Quite nice weather to get away from the office.

Judging from Philip Greenspun’s weblog, it doesn’t sound as if Germans are very welcome in some parts of Oklahoma.

The New Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (main page).

bq. – i d: Her in Englalande on Niwgearnihte wæs heard wind on Englalande ond snaw on Scotlande ond Norþymbrum ond sare derede þa Niwgearmærunge. Ond of þæt cwom great wana electricitatis in Scotlande ond Norþymbrum.

Via Persistent Illusions (main page).