一许多私法的法典都带有它们所产生的那个特殊历史环境的烙印。许多法典巩固了近代社会改组的成果;这些法典的优点是,鼓舞人们的人类理想和社会模式有希望在一个相当时期内保持效力。另外一些法典,恰巧相反,是在社会和政治都相对稳定的时期制定的;这些法典常常具有回顾过去而且深思熟虑的精神,总要维持一种有利于创造时期的情势。德国民法典就是这些比较保守的法典之一。它确切地表现了俾斯麦帝国的社会。在当时那个国家里,扮演主要角色的是显赫的自由主义的大资产阶级,这个阶级与有权势的普鲁士保守权力合作创立了德意志帝国,一个民族国家。那是一个在经济上以自由主义为标志的时代,那个时代 A large number of private law codes bear the mark of the particular historical environment they produce. Many codes consolidate the fruits of the restructuring of modern society; the virtue of these codes is that there is hope for the persuasion of human ideals and social models to remain in force for a considerable period of time. Other codes, on the contrary, are formulated in a relatively stable period of social and political life; these codes often have a retrospective and thoughtful spirit, always maintaining a situation conducive to the creation period. German Civil Code is one of these more conservative codes. It shows exactly Bismarck’s empire’s society. In that country at that time, the prominent liberal liberal bourgeoisie, who played a major role, created the German Empire and a nation-state in cooperation with the powerful Prussian powers. It was an era marked by economic liberalism