The Golden Rule in the Course of Time: Charitable Foundations in England, Germany and the EU Philanthropic Governance Perspective ? of Altruism and Calculation

The aim of this paper is to analyse the development of the so-called third sector in exemplary historical epochs and thereby contribute to the comparative legal analysis of charitable foundations which has emerged as a new research area.1 After giving a short overview of the development of the legal framework of charitable foundations, the paper will illustrate philanthropic ideas that were prevalent during each epoch. It will show how the conception of charities has changed during the course of time and how this links in with the comprehension of philanthropic governance that we find in today’s Europe. The essay will focus on the English and the German third sector in order to elaborate on the differences and similarities between a classical common law country and a classical civil law country. It will be argued that in the light of the ongoing controversial debate about the Europeanisation of private law, an ever closer European Union and a community of values and common heritage2 , cross-border giving can amount to an engine of creating a common European philanthropic landscape and thereby make a substantial contribution to turning round inertia and the lack of enthusiasm about the European project.