Hugo Sinzheimer (1875-1945) is well known as one of the founding fathers of labour law. He favoured an interdisciplinary approach, combining legal-positivistic with sociological analysis. His work still has a significant relevance, in particular in the field of collective labour law. His ideas have had a large impact on collective labour law in European as well as in other countries, for instance Japan.
Making his work accessible to researchers, and to others interested in his publications is the main goal of this website. We also propose an evaluation of the importance of his ideas, then as well as now.
It includes a concise biography, a complete list of his publications, and references to literature and websites on Sinzheimer and his work.
Some of his publications have been translated in English, which makes them accessible to readers not in command of the German language (see 1927h, 1930n & 1933b in the List of publications).
This year (2025) his 150th birthday has been celebrated in Frankfurt aM by way of a meeting at April 11th, organized by the Hugo Sinzheimer Institut / Hans Boeckler Stiftung.
NEW: Five typoscripts in German, unpublished parts of his heritage, have been recently added (April 2025):
- 'Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft' (The labour community) (undated, probably 1920);
- 'Mensch und Recht in unserer Zeit'(Man and Law in Our Times) (short notes, undated);
- 'Arbeitstarifrecht' (Law on Collective Labour Agreements) (undated, probably 1922);
- 'Leitsätze' (Guidelines) (undated, probably 1934 or 1935); and
- 'Rechtsquellenlehre und Arbeitsrecht' (undated, probably 1934 or 1935).
Please find them at the 'Publications'-page under 'Unpublished documents').