ABSTRACT
This chapter discussses the idea of a social constitution against the background of the Weimar Republic. It examines the thinking of Hugo Sinzheimer, who with his former students Franz L. Neumann and Ernst Fraenkel has been characterized as the pioneer of Sozialverfassung. The great innovator of the social constitution, Hugo Sinzheimer, did not overlook the pitfalls, complications and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution but still regarded it as a great constitutional leap forward in Germany, especially thanking for the leading and democratic role of Hugo Preuss. Sinzheimer emphasizes that Stein's real significance cannot be reduced to adopting a historical perspective on law but in making clear that living forces stand behind the law so that labour law must be understood in the sense of class law. Sinzheimer argues that democracy has to be extended to the economy and society at large which reciprocally makes it possible to develop genuine social and labour law and outline a practically effective social constitution.
