Reception of the 'Limited liability company (GmbH)'

The path of the GmbH to becoming Europe's most important corporate form

The limited liability company (GmbH) was created by the German legislature in 1892 as a company form without any historical forerunners or suggestions from comparative law. It brought about a readjustment of the relationship between the chance of profit and the liability risk. However, criticism from the jurisprudence that had not been included in the quick legislative process was also heard from the start. As early as 1892, Levin Goldschmidt expressed concern that the GmbH would replace 'principally more solid forms of company'. However, this criticism did not prevent the company form of the GmbH from being adopted in numerous European countries, or at least seriously considering its reception.

Auteur
Dr Janwillem (Pim) Oosterhuis studied Law at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and concluded his dissertation at the VU University Amsterdam in 2011 ('Specific Performance in German, French, and Dutch Law in the 19th Century'). Since 2009, he is Assistant Professor at the department of Methods and Foundations at the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University, Netherlands. Prof. Dr. Martin Löhnig ist Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Bürgerliches Recht, Deutsche und Europäische Rechtsgeschichte sowie Kirchenrecht an der Universität Regensburg. Prof. NCU dr hab. Anna Moszynska is the Head of the Department of Commercial Law, Maritime Law and Civil Procedure on the Faculty of Law and Administration of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun (Poland), as well as an attorney at law.