First University faculty: Law

The subject of law was already strongly represented in the founding bodies of the University. Professor Dr. Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker was first chairperson of the founding committee from 1967 and then elected as the first Rektor of the University in September 1969. In addition, five other law scholars – Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, Günther Jahr, Armin Kaufmann, Werner Maihofer and Dieter Nörr – sat on the scientific advisory board in 1966. Together with Mestmäcker they formed the Faculty Commission for Law during the planning process.

The “Bielefeld Model” of one-stage legal education

Within the framework of the University as a reform institution, the Faculty Commission for Law sought to overhaul the system of legal education. In doing so, they were responding to decades of criticism that law studies were too theoretical, were lacking in practical relevance, took too long to complete and were overly weighted towards judicial office. After a legal framework was put in place, which allowed for the testing of other forms of education in 1971, the Faculty in Bielefeld – along with other universities in Germany – made its own contribution to the so-called one-stage legal education (“Bielefeld Model”). In the winter semester 1973/74, the first year of training began with 187 participants at Bielefeld University working within the framework of the one-stage training. The course was characterised by a close connection between practical and theoretical training, specialisation in the final phase of the training, a distribution of the examination material over the entire training period and supervision of the students in small groups.

After the change of government in 1982/83, this reform project was abandoned throughout Germany, primarily for political reasons. A bill that contained essential parts of the “Bielefeld Model” was not implemented.

Springboard Bielefeld

Since the changes in the early 1980s, the Faculty, which is now the biggest in the University, teaches its students in two stages (study and clerkship) in accordance with more traditional methods. However, it remains open to current study reforms. The Faculty, which has become more international, younger and more female, has also retained a special appreciation of the basic subjects of philosophy, history and sociology. For some of its members, the Faculty has also served as a springboard to higher offices. Just a few years after Maihofer’s appointment to Bielefeld, he became Federal Minister for Special Affairs (1972-1972) and then Federal Minister of the Interior (1974-1978) in a social- liberal coalition government. No less than five Bielefeld professors have held the job of a federal constitutional judge.

An interesting side-note: When Bernhard Schlink, born in Bielefeld, started as a research assistant of the Faculty of Law, it not only led to a career as a professor of public law and philosophy of law, but also as a bestselling author.