Häcker Birke

Prof. Häcker Birke holds the Schlegel Chair in Civil Law, Common Law, and Comparative Law at the University of Bonn, where she also directs the Institute of Private International and Comparative Law. Previously, she served as Director of the Institute of European and Comparative Law at the University of Oxford (2018–2022) and held professorial roles at Oxford (2016–2022). She is a dual expert in English and German law, with a DPhil from the University of Oxford (2007) and German legal qualifications (2004, 2011).

Research focuses on comparative legal systems, European legal history, and private law (contract, tort, property). She has held prestigious fellowships at All Souls College (Oxford) and the Max Planck Institute (Munich), and is a Fellow of the Academia Europaea.

Awards include an Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University (2023) and the Therese von Bayern Prize (2015). She chairs editorial boards for journals like the Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht and is affiliated with institutions such as the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies.