For the legal system of the German state there is perhaps no more suitable inscription than:
Fiat justitia, pereat Germania!
It is if not a reasonable still in a sense a noble trait of German character that the law as such, whatever its basis and consequences, is sacred for the German. If Germany, as seems probable, perishes as an individual, independent state, and if the German nation likewise, it is some consolation to discover the awe in face of the law among the destructive spirits.
The view we have just sketched of the political situation and the constitutional law of Germany would hold, if Germany is looked upon as a state; her political situation would have to be considered a legal anarchy. [ . . . ] However, if one looks upon Germany not as a united political whole, but as a number of independent and essentially sovereign states, matters make more sense. If one objects that Germany is a “Reich,” a body politic, it is subject to one common head of the Reich, it still is one Reich association, the answer is that an inquiry which tries to comprehend has no concern with such titles.
[Hegel gives further illustrations of the manner in which formal law tries to escape from the obvious conclusions by verbal tricks and playing upon the word Reich, as if that were a solution.]
Scientifically and historically speaking, such terms ought to be avoided since they mean nothing. [ . . . ] In view of the obstinacy of German character and its insistence upon its own will, it may be the best means, though, to find some general term which satisfies both parties and which leaves both in possession of what they want.
If the Germans have deluded themselves for centuries with such general terms, scientific reflection must determine the concept of the state and the extent of power required for it. It will then appear that Germany cannot really be called a state.
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