1896de Book3 Chapter03 Title01

GERMAN CIVIL CODE OF 1896

• Based on the English Translation by: Wang, Chung Hui (1907). The German Civil Code, translated and annotated with historical introduction and appendices. London: Stevens and Sons. [available on Archive.org]
• Original Version in German.

Book III. Low of Things.

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Chapter III. Ownership.

Title I. Scope of Ownership.

Section 903.

• The owner of a thing may, in so far as the law or the rights of third parties admit, deal with the thing as he pleases and exclude others from any interference with it.

Section 904.

• The owner of a thing is not entitled to forbid the interference of another with the thing, if the interference is necessary for averting a present danger and the threatened injury is disproportionately great in comparison with the injury caused to the owner by the interference. The owner may require compensation for the damage caused to him.

Section 905.

• The right of the owner of a piece of land extends to the space above the surface and to the substance of the earth beneath the surface. The owner may not, however, forbid interference which takes place at such a height or depth that he has no interest in its prevention.

Section 906.

• The owner of a piece of land may not forbid the discharge of gases, vapours, odours, smoke, soot, heat, noise, vibrations and similar interferences proceeding from another piece of land, in so far as the interference does not, or does not essentially, injure the use of his land, or is caused by a use of the other land which is customary according to the local customs for lands in such situation. Discharge by a special conduit is not permitted.

Section 907.

• [I] The owner of a piece of land may prevent the construction or erection, on an adjoining piece of land, of structures from which it can be foreseen with certainty that their condition or use will result in an inadmissible interference with his land. If a structure complies with the provisions of the State law which prescribe a specified distance from the boundary or other protective measures, the removal of the structure can be required only if the inadmissible interference actually takes place.
• [II] Trees and shrubs are not structures within the meaning of these provisions.

Section 908.

• If piece of land is threatened with the danger of being injured by the fall of a building or other structure erected on an adjoining piece of land, or by the detachment of parts of the building or structure, the owner may require the person who, according to 836, par. 1, or 857, 838 would be responsible for resulting injury, to take the necessary measures for averting the danger.

Section 909.

• Land may not be excavated in such manner that the soil of an adjoining piece of land loses its necessary support, unless some other method is provided for adequate support.

Section 910.

• [I] The owner of a piece of land may cut off and retain roots of a tree or of a shrub which have penetrated from an adjoining piece of land. The same rule applies to overhanging branches, if the owner has allotted to the possessor of the adjoining piece of land a reasonable period for their removal, and the removal has not been effected within such period.
• [II] The owner has not this right if the roots or the branches do not interfere with the use of the land.

Section 911.

• Fruits falling from a tree, or a shrub standing on an adjoining piece of land are deemed to be fruits of such land. This provision does not apply if the adjoining piece of land serves for public use.

Section 912.

• [I] If the owner of a piece of land, without wilful default or gross negligence, has erected a building beyond his boundary, the adjoining owner is bound to submit to the encroachment, unless he has raised an objection before or immediately after the trespass.
• [II] The adjoining owner shall be compensated by a money rent. The amount of the rent is determined as at the date of the trespass.

Section 913.

• [I] The rent for the encroachment is payable to the owner for the time being of the adjoining piece of land by the owner for the time being of the other piece of land.
• [II] The rent is payable yearly in advance.

Section 914.

• [I] The right to the rent takes priority to all rights with which the land is charged, even older rights. It is extinguished upon the removal of the encroachment.
• [II] The right is not registered in the land register. Registration is necessary for a waiver of the right, and for the determination of the amount of the rent by contract.
• [III] For the rest those provisions are applicable which apply to a perpetual charge on land existing in favour of the owner for the time being of a piece of land.

Section 915.

• [I] The person entitled to the rent may at any time demand that the person who is bound to pay it shall compensate him, on the transfer of ownership of the encroached part of the land, for the value which such part had at the time of the trespass. If he exercises such right, the rights and obligations of both parties are determined according to the provisions relating to sale.
• [II] The rent shall continue to be paid until the transfer of ownership.

Section 916.

• If a heritable building right or a servitude over an adjoining piece of land is interfered with by the encroachment, the provisions of 912 to 914 apply mutatis mutandis in favour of the person entitled to such building right or servitude.

Section 917.

• [I] If a piece of land has not the means of connection with a public road necessary for its proper use, the owner may require his adjoining owners to permit him to use their lands for making the necessary connection until the defect is remedied. The direction of the way of necessity and the extent of the right to its use are determined, if necessary, by judicial decree.
• [II] The adjoining owners over whose lands the way of necessity leads shall be compensated by a money rent. The provisions of 912, par. 2, sentence 2, and 913, 914, 916 apply mutatis mutandis.

Section 918.

• [I] The obligation to permit the way of necessity does not arise, if the former connection of the land with the public road is destroyed by an arbitrary act of the owner.
• [II] If, in consequence of the alienation of a part of the land, the part alienated or the part retained is cut off from the connection with the public road, the owner of that part over which the connection formerly existed must permit the way of necessity. The alienation of one of several pieces of land belonging to the same owner is equivalent to the alienation of a part of the land.

Section 919.

• [I] The owner of a piece of land may require an adjoining owner to concur in the placing of permanent boundary marks and in the restoration of any boundary mark which may have become misplaced or unrecognizable.
• [II] The kind and manner of marking are determined by the laws of the State; if they contain no provisions, local custom determines it.
• [III] The costs of marking the boundaries shall be borne by the parties in equal shares, unless a contrary intention appears from some legal relation existing between them.

Section 920.

• [I] If, in case of confusion of boundaries, the proper boundary cannot be determined, the actual possession is decisive in the delimitation of the boundary. If the actual possession cannot be settled, an equal portion of the land in dispute shall be allotted to each of the pieces of land.
• [II] Where a determination of the boundary in accordance with these provisions leads to a result that is not in accord with the ascertained circumstances, e.g., with the established size of the pieces of land, the boundary is to be drawn so as to be equitable under these circumstances.

Section 921.

• If two pieces of land are separated from each other by an interval, border, corner, ditch, wall, hedge, fence, or any other device which serves for the advantage of both pieces of land, it is presumed that the owners of the lands are entitled to the common use of such device, unless visible signs indicate that the device belongs exclusively to one of the two owners.

Section 922.

• If the two owners are entitled to the common use of one of the devices specified in 921, either may use it for the purpose which results from its character, in so far as the equal use by the other is not thereby interfered with. The costs of maintenance shall be borne by the two owners in equal shares. So long as one of the two owners has an interest in the continuance of the device, it may not be removed or altered without his consent. For the rest the legal relation between the two owners is determined according to the provisions relating to community of ownership.

Section 923.

• [I] If a tree stands upon the boundary, its fruits, and if the tree is felled, the tree itself, belong to the two owners in equal shares.
• [II] Each of the two owners may require the removal of the tree. The cost of removal is borne by the two owners in equal shares. If one of the two requires its removal he shall, however, bear the cost alone, if the other waives his right to the tree; in such a case he acquires sole ownership of it when it is cut down. The claim for its removal is barred if the tree serves as a boundary mark, and cannot under the circumstances be replaced by another appropriate boundary mark.
• [III] These provisions apply also to a shrub standing on the boundary.

Section 924.

• The claims arising from 907 to 909, 915, 917, par. 1, 918, par. 2, 919, 920, and 923, par. 2, are not subject to prescription.