Rainer Schmidt develops elements of a political theory of the constitution based on the central categories of constitutional culture and constitutional sociology, in order to analyze the tension between law and politics in which the constitution operated in 19th century Germany. Starting from Kant, Pölitz, and Hegel, fundamental reflections on the interplay of law, power, and constitution take place in 19th century Germany, where the richness of political constitutionalism is still expressed. In the formative phase of legal positivism, the important political and social contexts of the constitution are forgotten, only to be revisited in the lead-up to the Weimar Constitution. This delineates the field between a purely legal and a broader political constitutionalism in Germany in the 19th century.