Zwei Strafrechtswelten

German legal thinking in terms of being “consequent” and the Austrian approach of being tolerant are clear-cut contradictions in the field of criminal law and criminal procedure. Lagodny shows these features. He lives, teaches and works as a legal researcher in Salzburg since 20 years. Acquittal for a thief who returns the stolen good before being disvovered? In Germany: impossible! Kant and others would argue this. In Austria: Why not? Paternalism in the sense of Habsburg’s monarchy and other features serve as explanations. Many of such examples complete a picture which can be understood only from an historic point of view with the eyes of a “foreigner” in the sense of G. Simmel. These findings also show the insurmountable impediments which harmonisation of law in the Euopaen Union has to face. The “Austrian labyrinth which everyone is acquainted with” (Qualtinger), however, is very much stimulating. If one is ready to do so.