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SIMSONPL. 1
When the German Empire was founded in 1871 , the imperial
justice laws established a supreme court for civil and
criminal law . After a prolonged debate , the Reichstag and
the Council of the federal states decided in 1877 to locate
the Supreme Court – the Imperial Court of Justice – in
Leipzig . The young architects Ludwig Hoffmann and Peter
Dybwad won a competition with their proposal .
The building of the Imperial Court of Justice was finished in
1895 after seven years of construction and inaugurated by
Emperor William II .
The building symbolises the role and importance of the
judiciary as the “ third power ” within the state . It had equal
status ranking with the legislature ’ s Reichstag building in
Berlin , which was built at the same time .
From the sculpture of Truth and the ceiling relief with the
judicial virtues in the cupola hall and the sculptures of the
main stairway to the door relief in the courtrooms – judicial
symbolism is everywhere . Alongside the offices , library and
the courtrooms , the building ’ s south wing housed the living
quarters of the Court ’ s president . For his representative tasks ,
he used a ceremonial hall , which still exists today .
The Imperial Court of Justice ruled on many civil cases .
Especially the interpretation of the German Civil Code of
1900 was part of its tasks .
Famous criminal court cases stirred the public . The most
famous one was the trial of the Reichstag fire in 1933 . It
ended with a death sentence for the Dutchman van der
Lubbe and the acquittal of four other defendants , among
them the Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitroff . The verdict
against van der Lubbe was later reversed by the German
parliament alongside other illegitimate Nazi judgments .
The end of the Second World War also marked the end of the
Imperial Court of Justice .
The Court ’ s building – heavily damaged by war – was only
partially repaired in the following years . During the period of
the German Democratic Republic , it served as Dimitroff
museum , Museum of Fine Arts , DEFA film studio , and
provided room for multiple public authorities .