ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an account of the German Reichsgericht under court president Bumke during Hitler’s rule of Nazi Germany. It discusses the court’s jurisdiction and the government’s measures that adapted it, such as the introduction of special courts. It further describes the function of the de-formalization, or ‘materialization’, of adjudication in the implementation of National Socialist ideology and policy. In this context, the role of general clauses is highlighted, and it is shown how this method of adjudication could sometimes be turned against the system. Finally, post-war evaluations and the continuity from Reichsgericht to Bundesgerichtshof are explained.
