Maximilian Steinbeis [de], a Berlin-based lawyer and journalist,[4] opened the blog on 30 July 2009, stating that his blog was the first German-language blog on constitutional law.[3] Beginning as a personal blog, Steinbeis soon invited others to publish their contributions on the website.[4] The blog initially focused on German law, eventually broadening its focus to constitutional law in Europe.[5] In 2011, it began to cooperate with the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study.[4] Verfassungsblog publishes content in four categories: blog posts, debates between multiple scholars, podcasts, and an editorial section.[1] It is open access and all content published on the website receives a DOI for long-time archival.[2] More than 1,000 people have published on the blog; contributors include Jürgen Habermas, Pedro Cruz Villalón, Giuliano Amato, and Yuval Shany.[6] As of 2020, Steinbeis is still the chief editor of the blog.[1]
Reception
The "Recht im Kontext" research association's external evaluation described the blog as "one of the most interesting and most widely read forums for constitutional law and policy" and a "must read" for legal scholars who research constitutional law in Europe.[7] The School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute described the blog as "one of the leading blogs on constitutional law in Europe".[5]Der Tagesspiegel described it as "an important discourse platform for European law".[4]
The 2020 European Commission rule of law report stated that Verfassungsblog is "A widely read platform for discussions on rule of law related topics [that] has gained in importance over
recent years and has become a forum for both domestic as well as European discussions on the rule of law."[8]