Robert Fischer (22 August 1911 – 4 March 1983) was a German jurist who served as the third President of the Federal Court of Justice of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

from 1968 to 1977, succeeding Bruno Heusinger.

Biography

Fischer was born in

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

in 1911, the son of Hans Albrecht Fischer, a professor specialising in

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, Civil law and

legal philosophy Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

. From 1932 to 1934, he studied law at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, where he became a part of the Academic Union “Igel” (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

), as well as at the universities of Breslau and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. In 1935 he graduated while studying under the auspices of Alfred Hueck, to whom he remained connected throughout his life. After passing the second

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

in 1938, he became a legal professional for the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a

reserve officer A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional m ...

. Once the war concluded in 1945, he decided to pursue a career as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. Following the war's conclusion, he was appointed Director and Deputy President of the State Court in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. In 1950, he was appointed a judge at the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice ( , ) is the highest court of Private law, civil and Criminal law, criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, le ...

. After being offered a professorship at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

, which he rejected, he became the chairman of the II. Civil Senate (

: ''II. Zivilsenat''). On 1 January 1963, he was appointed

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

, and after President of the Federal Court of Justice Bruno Heusinger retired, Fischer was appointed his successor on 1 April 1968. He held this position until his own retirement on 30 September 1977, being succeeded by Gerd Pfeiffer. Alongside his judicial activity, Fischer actively busied himself in

legal studies Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, commenting several scientific essays. He died in 1983.

Selected works

* ''Gesammelte Schriften – Grundfragen revisionsgerichtl. Rechtsprechung u. Beitr. zum Gesellschaftsrecht'', Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-11-009961-6

Bibliography

* Marcus Lutter u. a. (Hrsg.): ''Festschrift für Robert Fischer.'' Berlin 1979.

External links

*
Informationen über Robert Fischer beim Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Robert 1911 births 1983 deaths 20th-century German jurists Judges of the Federal Court of Justice