The methodology of interpreting articles of association in private law associations ranks among the classical contested questions of corporate law. It reaches deep into the theory of company law and has occupied both judiciary and legal scholarship for generations. The debate has long been shaped by competing theories of objective and subjective interpretation. Drawing on historical, comparative and doctrinal findings, this work demonstrates that the prevailing interpretive dogmatics is neither historically predetermined nor doctrinally compelling – and advocates for a uniform interpretation of articles of association oriented towards the traditional canons of §§ 133 and 157 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
