The Landgericht Berlin is a

regional court In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, divided into two divisions for civil and criminal cases. In the German court hierarchy, it is above the eleven local courts (

Amtsgericht An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the ' ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most criminal and ...

e) of the city and below the Kammergericht, which is the highest regional court of Berlin. The Landgericht Berlin is the largest Landgericht in Germany, with about 900 employees.

History

Following the 1920

Greater Berlin Act The Greater Berlin Act (), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin. Hist ...

, Berlin had three Landgerichte, known as Landgericht Berlin I, II and III for the central, southern and northern districts of the city. These courts became one single Landgericht, the Landgericht Berlin, in July 1933 by decision by the acting

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Justice Minister

Hanns Kerrl Hanns Kerrl (11 December 1887 – 15 December 1941) was a German Nazi politician. His most prominent position, from July 1935, was that of Reichsminister of Church Affairs. He was also President of the Prussian Landtag (1932–1933) and head o ...

. He appointed Richard Hoffmann, until May 1933 a lawyer in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, as first president of the Landgericht Berlin. During Berlin's division after World War II the Landgericht building in

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

also contained several city-related courts as well as the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and the State

Prosecutors Office Public prosecutor's offices are criminal justice bodies attached to the judiciary. They are separate from the courts in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and are called the Staatsanwaltschaft (). This kind of offic ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Structure

Today, the chambers of the court are distributed over three sites in the city: civil cases are heard in the building of the former Landgericht III on Tegeler Weg in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

and also at the seat of the former Landgericht I on Littenstraße in

. All criminal cases are concentrated at the Criminal Court (''Kriminalgericht'') on

Turmstraße Turmstraße (''Tower street'') is a main street in the Berlin district of Moabit. The street runs along the "Kleiner Tiergarten" park, and past the Moabit courthouse. Turmstraße (Berlin U-Bahn), Turmstraße is also the name of an Berlin u-bah ...

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the boroughs of Berlin, borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2022, about 84,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial sector, industr ...

. The court's seat is Berlin; its district corresponds with the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

's area. As of 31 December 2013, 13,739

lawyers A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...

have been accredited within the district area.

References

{{Coord, 52.52707, N, 13.29762, E, source:dewiki_region:DE-BE_scale:1500_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Regional courts of Germany Buildings and structures in Berlin 1933 establishments in Germany Courts and tribunals established in 1933