Von Pfahlbürgern und Zugvögeln: Kontroversen um das deutsche Heimatrecht im 19. Jahrhundert

Abstract

Modern nation-state building involved the rise of state citizenship and the decline of local membership that had characterized the pre-industrial world. In German-speaking Central Europe, however, this transition was neither quick nor smooth. Rather, the Heimatrecht (home law or home right), which tied people to their community of origin, remained significant throughout the nineteenth century. Recent scholarship on the concept of Heimat has largely ignored its legal history, assuming a rupture between “old” pragmatic-juridical and “new” sentimental-ideological understandings of the term. This article argues that no such clear separation is feasible. Centering on the founding phase of the German Empire, it discusses how the Heimatrecht was defined in the German states before 1871, why it became a bone of political contention between particularism and Prussia-orientated nationalism, and how it affected the lives of migrants. Finally, the article highlights a paradoxical continuity: modern state citizenship enlarged the legal Heimat, but perpetuated its core dilemma.