German literature on the history of insurance stresses the importance of professional guilds for the shaping of insurance and insurance law. Similarly, scholars researching the genesis of Germany's social security claim the importance of guilds as predecessor of social security. However, there is a problem with both narratives: the impact of guilds is commonly asserted but has never been analytically established. Against this background, the present contribution offers an analysis of the support offered by professional guilds from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century.

Autorentext
Phillip Hellwege is Professor of Private Law, Commercial Law, and Legal History at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Before taking up his position in Augsburg he was from 2003 to 2010 a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. In 2015 he has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant for a five-year project on a comparative history of insurance law in Europe. His research interests are (European) private law, comparative legal history and the history of commercial and insurance law.

Zusammenfassung
»Den Leserinnen und Lesern wird eine sehr gut lesbare Darstellung angeboten, die reich an historischen Details ist und überzeugend argumentiert,dass genossenschaftliche Zusammenschlüsse in Deutschland einen größeren Einfluss auf die Entwicklung von Versicherung (im Sinne der Sozialversicherung) und auf zumindest das Sozialversicherungsrecht hatten, als man dies für ganz Europa sagen kann.« Tobias A. Jopp, in: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- u. Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Heft 2/2023

Inhalt
A. Introduction Professional guilds and the origins of modern insurance and social security? The state of research Defining the research object Overview Eight final preliminary remarks B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century: loans and capacity building Supporting master craftsmen and their families Supporting journeymen and apprentices Supporting miners and their families Supporting seafarers and their families Conclusion C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries: a first phase of transformation Supporting craftsmen and their families Supporting miners and their families Supporting seafarers and their families Contextualizing the process of transformation Conclusion D. The evolution of Germany's modern social security schemes in the 19th century 19th-century developments until Bismarck's legislation Bismarck's social security legislation Guild welfare and modern life insurance? E. Conclusion