of Gierke's 1881 four volume opus on the German law of association (Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht) under the title Political Theories of the Middle Ages in 1900. Social law Rudolf von Jhering and Gierke have been recognized as forerunners of social law, which overcame the classical division of public law and private law. Social jurists argued that the norm of property, contract and tort should not govern all aspects of commercial and private interactions. By arguing that legal principles such as freedom of contract or liability for injury point to certain purposes which a legal system imposes on the social world, Gierke laid the theoretical foundations for substantial areas of social life to be regulated by social laws, such as corporate law, competition law, labour law and housing law. Commercial Law Gierke is well-known for his academic work on Commercial Law. Especially, he conducted research in the German Law of Association ("Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht"). Children His son Edgar von Gierke was a highly respected pathologist who discovered glycogen storage disease type I in 1929. Gierke's oldest daughter Anna was among the first group of women elected to parliament in Germany in 1919. Publications Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht (Berlin 1868–1913) 4 volumes vol 1. Rechtsgeschichte der deutschen Genossenschaft (1868) introduction translated by John D Lewis, The Genossenschaft – Theory of Otto von Gierke; A Study in Political Thought (1936) and selections translated by Mary Fischer and Anthony Black as Community in Historical Perspective (1990) vol 2. Geschichte des deutschen Körperschaftsbegriffs (1873) vol 3. Die Staats- und Korporationslehre des Alterthums und des Mittelalters und ihre Aufnahme in Deutschland (1881). Sections 3–5 was translated as Associations and law: The classical and early Christian stages by George Heiman (1977); §11, pages 500–640, 'Die publicistischen Lehren des Mittelalters' was translated by FW Maitland as Political Theories of the Middle Ages (1900). vol 4. Die Staats- und Korporationslehre der Neuzeit (1913) Section V, §§14-8 translated by Ernest Barker as Natural law and the theory of society, 1500 to 1800 (1934). Die soziale Aufgabe des Privatrechts (Berlin 1889) translated by Ewan McGaughey as 'The Social Role of Private Law' (2018) 19(4) German Law Journal 1017 Johannes Althusius und die Entwicklung der naturrechtlichen Staatstheorie (Berlin 1880) translated by Bernard Freyd as The Development of Political Theory (1939) Naturrecht und Deutsches Recht: Rede zum Antritt des Rektorats der Universität Breslau am 15. Oktober 1882 gehalten (Frankfurt 1883) Rudolf von Gneist: Gedächtnissrede