History and Organization The Institute was founded in Berlin in 1924 as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) within the framework of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft (Kaiser Wilhelm Society). It was re-established in 1949 by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Max Planck Society) as the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) in Heidelberg. Under the supervision of two directors, young scholars and PhD candidates who are partly exernally funded engage in researching basic issues and current developments in the areas of public international law, European law, comparative public law and German public law.