University of Cologne

For the first time since the entry into force of the Basic Law, the initiative "Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen!"[1], socialisation of private property seems to become a realistic political reality. The instrument of socialisation has its legal basis in Article 15 of the Basic Law, according to which "land, natural resources and means of production [...] may be transferred to common ownership or other forms of public economy for the purpose of socialisation [...]". Apart from a multitude of dogmatic individual questions, fundamental problems arise in the application of a norm that has never been implemented and seems to have fallen out of time after 70 years.

Central to this is, on the one hand, the question of the extent to which conceivable applications can be compatible with remaining constitutional law, in particular the protection of property, and how the factor of time and the accompanying legal and political framework conditions can affect the character of a provision. Furthermore, it is examined why there have never been any significant attempts at implementation, for which sociological, economic, but also jurisprudential explanations are developed. To this end, the regulation is examined from various interdisciplinary perspectives and placed in the context of the history of ideas of socialisation as well as the theory and practice of the public economy.

The aim of the thesis is therefore to derive an understanding of the provision that puts the actual or supposed contradictions to constitutional reality into perspective, places Article 15 in the historical and systematic structure of the Basic Law and points to possible future perspectives.

[1] „Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and others!“. Deutsche Wohnen is a commercial real estate business and landlord of over 150.000 appartments.