The Legacy of Federal Constitutional Court President Jutta Limbach

April marked the end of two, intertwined eras at the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court). Not only did Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jutta Limbach conclude her distinguished service as the Court's President and the Presiding Justice of the Second Senate; significantly, President Limbach's retirement also marked the end of the tenure of the first female President of the prestigious and powerful Federal Constitutional Court. It is, however, difficult to decide whether it does Ms. Limbach's legacy more honor to refuse to remark the later of these points, treating her tenure as President from a gender-neutral perspective and thereby giving life to the issue of gender-equality that is so important to her. This question is made somewhat less perplexing for an English-language commentator, who must not employ the gendered forms of nouns as required by the German language. While Ms. Limbach served as a Richterin and Präsidentin (the female forms of the German words Richter and Präsident – judge and president) in the German language, in the English language she was simply and fully (fully neutral with respect to gender) Justice and President. Nonetheless, if only at the level of pronouns, the issue persists in the English language as well: does President Limbach's retirement merit reflection as the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable Jurist and public figure or the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable female Jurist and public figure?