Joseph Unger was an Austrian jurist and statesman. Having studied law at the university of his native city, he in 1850 was appointed assistant librarian, and in 1852 privatdozent

Privatdozent

Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...

, at his alma mater. The following year he was called to Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 as assistant professor at the university, and in 1855 to Vienna in a similar capacity. In 1857 he was appointed professor of jurisprudence at the latter institution. In 1867 he was successively elected a member of the Austrian Landtag and of the Reichsrat; but on account of ill health he had to resign in the following year. Appointed in 1869 by the Emperor Franz Joseph

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

 a life-member of the House of Lords

Reichsrat (Austria)

The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...

, he soon became the whip of the Liberal Party

Liberal Party

Liberal Party is the name for dozens of political parties around the world. Liberal parties can be center-left, centrist, or center-right depending on their location...

. Two years later he became minister (without portfolio) in Prince Auersperg

Prince Adolf of Auersperg

Prince Adolf Wilhelm Daniel von Auersperg was an Austrian statesman.-Biography:He served in the Army from 1841 to 1860 and attained the rank of major of dragoons in the regiment of Prince Eugene...

's cabinet, but resigned upon the prime minister's defeat in 1879. In 1881 he was appointed president of the Reichsgericht (Supreme Court of Administration). Unger was a convert to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

.

Literary works

Of Unger's works the following may be mentioned:

• "Die Ehe in Ihrer Welthistorischen Entwicklung" (Vienna, 1850);
• "Ueber Wissenschaftliche Behandlung des Oesterreichischen Gemeinen Privat-rechtes" (ib. 1853);
• "Der Entwurf eines Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches für das Königreich Sachsen" (ib. 1853);
• "System des Oesterreichischen Allgemeinen Privatrechts" (Leipzig, 1856-64; vols. i and ii, 5th ed., 1892; vol. vi, 1894)
  a standard work on Austrian law, which established Unger's reputation;
• "Die Rechtliche Natur der Inhaberpapiere" (Vienna, 1857);
• "Der Revidierte Entwurf eines Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches für das Königreich Sachsen" (ib. 1861);
• "Zur Lösung der Ungarischen Frage"
  (ib. 1861; written in collaboration with Adolf Fischhof
  Adolf Fischhof
  Adolf Fischhof was a Hungarian-Austrian writer and politician of Jewish descent....
  
  , and published anonymously), a work advocating a dual monarchy for Austria and Hungary, its appearance marking Unger's entry upon a political career;
• "Die Verlassenschaftsabhandlung in Oesterreich" (ib. 1865); "Zur Reform der Wiener Universität" (ib. 1865);
• "Die Verträge zu Gunsten Dritter" (Jena, 1869);
• "Schuldübernahme" (Vienna, 1889);
• "Handeln auf Eigene Gefahr" (Jena, 1891);
• "Handeln auf Fremde Gefahr" (ib. 1894);