About the Institute
The Institute of Public and Administrative Law at University of Cologne has a long tradition and is today renowned for innovative teaching methods and an emphasis on the university's "third mission" in harmony with proven research performance.
Research and academia
Research activities cover the fields of administrative and constitutional law as well as administrative science. Current focal points are security law and the law of the constitutions of the German federal states. Since its foundation, seven former assistants of the Institute have been habilitated and appointed to university chairs, and the number of doctoral students has grown to about 150. The library holdings amount to about 50,000 books and periodicals – some of historical quality. Many foreign visiting scholars spent longer or shorter research stays at the Institute.
Research activities cover the fields of general and special administrative law (in particular the law of public safety/police law, municipal law and building law) as well as administrative science. Further areas of emphasis are constitutional (procedural) law and the law of governmental organization and political parties. Since its foundation, seven former assistants of the Institute have been habilitated and appointed to university chairs, and the number of doctoral students has grown to about 150. The library holdings amount to about 50,000 books and periodicals - some of historical quality. Many foreign visiting scholars spent longer or shorter research stays at the Institute. Cooperation with various government institutions and law firms is an integral part of the Institute's activities. A special priority lies in the improvement of teaching and academics, also through the use of modern technological teaching and learning aids, as well as through close supervision of student affairs. An active public relations practice supports an effective transfer of legal knowledge to broader society ("third mission").
Historical development
Hans Peters, a Nazi resistance member of the Kreisau Circle and co-founder of the German People's Party "CDU", created the administrative science department of the Research Institute of Social and Administrative Sciences at University of Cologne in 1950. During his tenure at the Institute, Peters was involved, among other activities, in the revival of the German leading academic Görres Society. Over the years, the Institute evolved into the then independent Institute of Public and Administrative Law, located at the Faculty of Law. From 1966 onwards, it was headed by Klaus Stern, a professor of constitutional law, and continuously expanded.Stern not only established his standard legal comment on governmental organization and institutions (Staatsrecht), but also served the German government on several occasions during this period, occasionally as an advisor in the context of German reunification. Like Peters, he also served as rector of University of Cologne. After his retirement in 1998, Peter J. Tettinger, who, like Stern, was a judge at the Constitutional Court of the largest German state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), continued this activity. After his early death, Thomas von Danwitz, now acting as German judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in Luxembourg, took over as director in 2006. Since spring 2020, Markus Ogorek, formerly President of EBS University of Business and Law, has headed the Institute as Director.
Further information can be found in the portraits of the former Institute Directors:
Professor
Dr. iur. Dr. h.c. Hans Carl Maria Alfons Peters (†)
Head of the Institute 1950 - 1965
Resistance fighter and CDU co-founder
Professor
Dr. iur. Dr. h.c. mult. Klaus Stern (†)
Head of the Institute 1966 - 1998
Political advisor and founder of the standard comment on governmental organization
Professor
Dr. iur. Peter J. Tettinger (†)
Head of the Institute 1999 - 2005
State constitutional judge and "master of his profession"
Professor
Dr. iur. Dr. h.c. Thomas von Danwitz
Head of the Institute 2006 - 2020
Judge at the ECJ and Chevalier de l'Ordre National Du Merite of the French Republic
