1896de Book3 Chapter05 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.

Chapter V. Servitudes.

Title I. Real Servitudes.

Section 1018.

• A piece of land may be charged with a right in favour of the owner for the time being of another piece of land in such manner that the latter may use the land in certain ways, or that certain acts may not be done on the land, or that the exercise of a right is excluded which arises from the ownership of the servient tenement in respect of the other land (i.e., a real servitude).

Section 1019.

• A real servitude may consist only in a right which affords an advantage for the use of the dominant tenement. The extent of the servitude cannot be stretched beyond the measure resulting from this.

Section 1020.

• In the exercise of a real servitude the person entitled to it shall, as far as possible, pay regard to the interest of the owner of the servient tenement. If he maintains any structure upon the servient tenement for the exercise of the servitude, he shall maintain it in an orderly condition so far as the interest of the owner demands.

Section 1021.

• [I] If the exercise of a real servitude involves the erection of a structure upon the servient tenement, it may be required that the owner of such tenement has to maintain the structure so far as the interest of the person entitled demands. If the owner has a right to the common use of the structure, it may be required that the person entitled has to maintain the structure so far as is necessary for the owner's exercise of the right of use.
• [II] The provisions relating to perpetual charges on land apply mutatis mutandis to such duty of maintenance.

Section 1022.

• Where a real servitude consists in a right to maintain a structure upon a structure of the servient tenement, the owner of the servient tenement shall, unless it is otherwise provided, maintain his structure so far as the interest of the person entitled demands. The provision of 1021, par. 2, applies also to such duty of maintenance.

Section 1023.

• [I] Where the exercise for the time being of a real servitude is limited to a part of the servient tenement, the owner may require the exercise of the servitude to be transferred to another place equally suitable for the person entitled, if the exercise of it in the former place is especially onerous to him; he shall bear and advance the cost of the transfer. This applies even where the part of the land to which the exercise of the servitude is limited is specified by juristic act.
• [II] The right to the transfer may not be excluded or limited by juristic act.

Section 1024.

• Where a real servitude conflicts with another real servitude or other right of use of the land in such manner that the rights cannot or cannot completely be exercised concurrently, and if the rights have equal rank, either of the entitled parties may require the exercise of the rights to be regulated in an equitable manner, having regard to the interests of all the parties concerned.

Section 1025.

• Where the dominant tenement is divided the real servitude continues in respect of the several parts; its exercise is, however, in case of doubt permissible only in such manner that it does not become more onerous to the owner of the servient tenement. If the servitude affords an advantage to one only of the parts, it is extinguished in respect of the remaining parts.

Section 1026.

• If the servient tenement is divided, and if the exercise of the real servitude is limited to a specified part of the servient tenement, the parts which lie outside the limits of its exercise are discharged from the servitude.

Section 1027.

• If injury is done to a real servitude, the party entitled to the servitude has the rights specified in 1004.

Section 1028.

• [I] Where a structure has been erected upon the servient tenement whereby the real servitude is injured, the claim of the person entitled for the abatement of the injury is subject to prescription, even if the servitude is registered in the land register. Upon the prescription of the claim the servitude is extinguished, so far as the existence of the structure is incompatible with it.
• [II] The provisions of 892 do not apply.

Section 1029.

• If a possessor of a piece of land is disturbed in his exercise of a real servitude entered in the land register in the name of the owner, the provisions applicable to protection of possession apply mutatis mutandis, provided the servitude has been exercised within one year before the disturbance, even though it be only once.