[2][3] After the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire the Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte was established as the third and last court of appeal in civil and criminal matters for the former free imperial cities Bremen, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Lübeck, as well as Bergedorf.

With regard to him, Bernhard Windscheid expressed the view that the two highest honours for a jurist in Germany were to succeed Friedrich Carl von Savigny on his chair in Berlin or to take Heise's place in Lübeck.

[5] Through Heinrich Thöl [de] in particular, the court had a considerable influence on the development of German commercial law.

The court's second president, Karl Georg von Wächter, was in office for just under a year from 1851 to 1852, until he returned to university.

First of all, Frankfurt left the association on 1 January 1867 after losing its sovereignty due to the Prussian annexation, whereupon the name of the court was changed to Oberappellationsgericht der Freien Hansestädte for short.

In 1936, the state archives passed it on to the public library, which gave it to the Katharineum, among others, after completing its extension buildings in Hundestraße.

The listed building was extensively renovated and converted into an education, meeting and memorial centre for the German Chancellor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Willy Brandt, who was born in Lübeck.

The building was made available by the city free of charge and is used by both the foundation and the municipal office for the preservation of historical monuments.