The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch is the very backbone of German civil law. Its legal concepts and principles are essential to understand the law of one of Europe’s major legal systems. In its first edition, this article-by article com-mentary covers Books 4 and 5 of the German Civil Code.

• Family Law
• Law of Succession

The commentary reflects the law in July 2021; subsequent changes in legis-lation were incorporated until 1 July 2022. The uniform structure of each commentary allows for easy navigation through the complex legal con-cepts and challenging terminology. Concise explanations bring the abstract articles to life and their meaning becomes accessible to lawyers, legislators, students, scholars, and translators.
This commentary is edited by Professor Dr Gerhard Dannemann, Hum-boldt University of Berlin, and Professor Dr Reiner Schulze, University of Münster. The contributors to the commentary are experienced academics and practitioners in the field of civil and comparative law.