The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (German: [ˈbʏʁɡɐlɪçəs ɡəˈzɛtsbuːx]), abbreviated BGB, is the civil code of Germany. In development since 1881, it became effective on January 1, 1900, and was considered a massive and groundbreaking project.
The BGB served as a template for the regulations of several other civil law jurisdictions, including Estonia, Latvia, Taiwan (the Republic of China), Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the People's Republic of China, Brazil, Greece and Ukraine. It also had a major influence on the 1907 Swiss civil code, the 1942 Italian civil code, the 1966 Portuguese civil code, and the 1992 reformed Dutch civil code
The introduction in German of the Napoleonic code in 1804 created in Germany a similar desire for obtaining a civil code (despite the opposition of the Historical School of Law of Friedrich Carl von Savigny), which would systematize and unify the various heterogeneous laws that were in effect in the country. However, the realization of such an attempt during the life of the German Confederation was difficult because the appropriate legislative body did not exist.