Lately, I have become very interested in genealogy research as have many other people judging from the numerous websites, databases, guides, and other resources dedicated to that topic. To get my family history research started, I interviewed my parents who directed me to our family (heritage) book. What are Family Books? In Germany, events like births, marriages, …
On October 24, 1648, the Peace of Westphalia formally ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. The Peace of Westphalia consists of two different documents, the Peace Treaty of Osnabrück (Instrumentum pacis Osnabrugensis) between the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (HRE) and Sweden, and the Peace Treaty of Münster (Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriensis) between …
On July 14, 1987, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) rendered two decisions that paved the way to allowing attorney advertising in Germany. Nicknamed the “Bastille decisions” because of the date and their ”revolutionary character,” the decisions allowed attorneys for the first time to advertise their services to the public on a regular basis although several …
In preparation for the upcoming Independence Day celebration tomorrow, we thought it might be interesting to show that there is also an international dimension to this national holiday. The Declaration of Independence is regarded as one of the milestone documents that shaped America, but it also had a major influence abroad. After the Continental Congress approved the …
The following is a guest post by Micaela DelMonte, a lawyer from the European Parliamentary Research Service who volunteered at the Law Library of Congress during May 2017. News about Brexit and the so-called Article 50 procedure have dominated the news about the European Union (EU) lately. If you are interested in researching these or …
Today’s interview is with Micaela DelMonte, a lawyer from the European Parliamentary Research Service, who is at the Law Library for one month. Describe your background. I am Italian and was born in Siena, Italy. Shortly after my birth, my family moved to Florence and then to Carrara, the city of white marble, where I spent …
Every year on May 23, Germany celebrates the “Day of the Basic Law.” The Basic Law, Germany’s constitution, lays down fundamental rights, establishes the structure and administration of the Federal Republic of Germany, and sets out the legal framework of the three branches of government. Furthermore, it establishes the Federal Republic of Germany as a democratic, federal, …
In 2015, there were slightly over 17 million people in Germany with a “migrant background”, accounting for 21% of the country’s total population. A person with a “migrant background” is defined by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) as someone who was not born a German citizen or who has at least one parent who was not …