Robert von Mohl (17 August 1799 – 4 November 1875) was a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

. He was the father of diplomat Ottmar von Mohl and salonnière Anna von Helmholtz, and brother of Hugo von Mohl, Moritz Mohl and Julius von Mohl. From 1824 to 1845 he was professor of political sciences 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 ...

, losing his position because of some frank criticisms which brought him under the displeasure of the authorities of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. In 1847 he was a member of the parliament of Württemberg, and in the same year he was appointed professor of law at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

; in 1848 he was a member of the German Parliament which met at

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and for a few months he was minister of justice. He was also a member of parliament in the Reichstag. From 1827 to 1846, he was a professor of ''Staatswissenschaften'' (political science and political economics) of the

. Robert von Mohl was one of the first to coin the term of a ''

Rechtsstaat ''Rechtsstaat'' (; lit. "state of law"; "legal state") is a doctrine in continental European legal thinking, originating in Germany, German jurisprudence. It can be translated into English as "rule of law", alternatively "legal state", state of l ...

'', or constitutional state, as opposed to the "anti-

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...

and the judicially activist "justice state". His later public life was passed in the service of the Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden, whom he represented as ambassador in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

from 1867 to 1871. Through Kato Hiroyuki and other Japanese thinkers and statesmen, his works influenced the Japanese state philosophy after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

Works

* ''Die Polizei-Wissenschaft nach den Grundsätzen des Rechtsstaates'' (''Police science according to the principles of the constitutional state'') * ''Encyklopädie der Staatswissenschaften'' (''Encyclopedia of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

s and political economics'') * ''Staatsrecht, Völkerrecht und Politik'' (''

Constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

and politics'')

References

External links

Excerpt from Mohl's ''Lebenserinnerungen'' (''autobiography'')

Article ''Mohl''
in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohl, Robert Von 1799 births 1875 deaths Politicians from Stuttgart People from the Duchy of Württemberg Württembergian nobility German Lutherans Imperial Liberal Party politicians Members of the Frankfurt Parliament Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Deputies Members of the 2nd Reichstag of the German Empire Jurists from Stuttgart Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of Heidelberg University University of Göttingen alumni University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Von Mohl family 19th-century Lutherans