The Hanseatic Supreme Courthouse, Hamburg

The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (HansOLG) in Hamburg, situated on Sieveking Square in the Saint Pauli quarter, stands as a historic and architecturally significant judicial edifice. Named after Ernst Friedrich Sieveking, its first president, the court was initially established on October 1, 1879, as the Court of Appeal. It served the Free Imperial Cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck, inheriting the jurisdiction previously held by the Higher Court of Appeal of the Four Free Cities in Lübeck.

The court's central building, completed in 1912, is part of a larger judicial complex on Sieveking Square. This complex also includes the Civil Law Court and the Criminal Law Court, both noteworthy for their early 20th-century architectural styles and the use of materials like sandstone, yellow brick, and red brick. These buildings, designed by architects Lundt & Kallmorgen, showcase the era's reverence for the law through their grandeur and imposing structures, particularly the 52-meter-high dome of the Higher Regional Court building.

The Higher Regional Court itself is an exemplary piece of Neoclassical architecture. It harmonizes with the two adjacent larger buildings through its design features, including slender sand-lime brick columns and twin towers that accentuate its corners. The interior of the court is equally magnificent, with a spacious entrance hall, a plenary hall largely adorned with marble, an oak-paneled library, and four elaborately designed meeting rooms.

The entire complex is listed as a historical structure, embodying both architectural and historical significance. The facade of the court building is notably inscribed with a definition of law by the Roman jurist Publius Iuventius Celsus: "Law is the Art of the Good and the Equitable", highlighting the philosophical foundations upon which the court was established. Together, these buildings not only serve as functional spaces for legal proceedings but also stand as monuments to the judicial history and architectural heritage of Hamburg.