With this work, historian Friedrich Keutgen (1861-1936) was habilitated in Jena in 1895. In his study, Keutgen explores the origins of the German municipal constitution and acts as a mediator between different research approaches - particularly between representatives of market law theory and those who view the city community as an evolution of the rural community, notably Keutgen's friend and colleague Georg von Below (1858-1927). In a detailed and knowledgeable manner, Keutgen provides the historical context for the academic discourse and simultaneously contrasts the various approaches.