Reception of the 'Limited liability company (GmbH)'

The limited liability company (GmbH) was created by the German legislature in 1892 as a company form without any historical forerunners or suggestions from comparative law. It brought about a readjustment of the relationship between the chance of profit and the liability risk. However, criticism from the jurisprudence that had not been included in the quick legislative process was also heard from the start. As early as 1892, Levin Goldschmidt expressed concern that the GmbH would replace ‘principally more solid forms of company’. However, this criticism did not prevent the company form of the GmbH from being adopted in numerous European countries, or at least seriously considering its reception.