The exhibition deals with Bremen's municipal law and its historical development (in terms of language), which a total of 30 German language and literature students studied for three semesters under the supervision of PD Dr. Barbara Aehnlich. The various seminars focused on the question of how Bremen's legal sources are structured in terms of media and, above all, language. To this end, the students produced transcriptions and translations of various copies of Bremen's municipal law and carried out minor linguistic analyses. In a final block seminar, the exhibition texts and visualisations were created.

Bremen's historical municipal law was recorded between 1303 and 1308. In 1303, the Bremen Council decided that the applicable law should be put into writing. To this end, it appointed a committee of 16 men, four of whom came from each of the city's districts, to ‘ordele unde al recht mitten ratmannen to vindene und to bescrivende’ (city law of 1303/08, Article I,1). The first transcript was completed five years later, in 1308. Nevertheless, the manuscript was supplemented by the addition of new council ordinances and laws. The text remained in force for several centuries, but was constantly developed, supplemented, corrected and restructured. The original version of the city law of 1303/08 has been preserved, as have three of its copies. There are also other manuscripts documenting the further development of the law from 1428 and 1433. A later important legal document is the so-called Kundige Rolle (Knowledgeable Roll) from 1450 and 1489. The originals and some copies of Bremen's city law will be on display in the exhibition until 5 January 2026. Visitors can also gain insights into the students' work and learn exciting information about the language of Bremen's law.
Further information can be found at: m.suub.uni-bremen.de/ueber-uns/neues-aus-der-suub/ausstellung-zum-bremer-stadtrecht/