Körperschaft

Körperschaft is a legal term used in German-speaking jurisdictions to describe a body with its own legal personality, separate from its members. A Körperschaft can acquire rights and incur obligations in its own name, sue and be sued, own property, and enter into contracts through its organs.

There are two main families: Körperschaften des Privatrechts (private-law corporations) and Körperschaften des öffentlichen Rechts (public-law corporations). Public-law corporations are created to perform functions of public administration and may exercise sovereign powers; examples include municipalities, universities, and certain professional or municipal bodies. Private-law corporations include registered associations (eingetragene Vereine, e.V.), foundations (Stiftungen), and business entities such as GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) or AG (Aktiengesellschaft). These entities are typically formed by a charter or articles of association and operate under a civil-law framework.

Formation and organs: A corporate entity comes into existence by statute or contract and is registered in the appropriate public register (such as the commercial-register or association-register). It acts through its organs, such as management (Geschäftsführung or Vorstand), supervisory bodies (Aufsichtsrat), and general meetings of members. These organs represent the entity in legal transactions and oversee its administration.

Rights and duties: As legal persons, Körperschaften can own property, enter into contracts, and bear rights and duties in their own name. Their purpose can be profit-oriented (as with many private-law corporations) or non-profit, such as charitable, cultural, or public-interest activities.

In German law, the term Körperschaft is often used interchangeably with juristische Person, though it emphasizes the idea of a collective entity acting as a single legal unit.