The History of Private Law as Imperial History. New Approaches to the Legal History of the Habsburg Empire

What does it mean to look at the Habsburg Empire as a subject of imperial history and to analyze it historically? This question has been the topic of lively research debates in history and cultural studies for several years. The construction and government of difference and plurality in the Habsburg Empire is repeatedly referred to as a common point of reference, whether it be between different ethnic groups, nationalities, religions, race, or on a horizontal or vertical level. The integration of this diversity into state institutions is discussed in particular with regard to current social, international and supranational challenges. However, most of these histories of the Habsburg Empire leave an important gap in research: while studies in constitutional and administrative law have already been included in these discussions, private law and its history have not yet played a significant role in the discourse. Therefore, this essay seeks to explore the possibilities of imperial history approaches for the history of private law, but also those of the history of private law for the history of empires. The legal institution of the colonate, which existed in the southern and eastern European lands of the Habsburg monarchy, and the introduction of international private law in the Habsburg Empire will be used to examine two test cases from the late 19th century. They are intended to demonstrate that an interdisciplinary exchange provides important impulses and new approaches both to Austrian legal history and the history of the Habsburg Empire.