Roland Freisler was a leading Nazi lawyer, civil servant, and judge. The main focus of the thesis is on Freisler’s hitherto neglected experiences during the Weimar Republic and his role in facilitating the transition of the German legal system from the democratic Rechtsstaat to the Nazi dictatorship. The first chapter (1893-1920) examines Freisler’s experiences during the First World War and its revolutionary aftermath and sheds doubt on the much-repeated claim that he had “converted” to Bolshevism. The second chapter (1920-1922) provides a close reading of his doctoral dissertation and early academic work. The close collaboration with his supervisor, Justus Wilhelm Hedemann, as well as stellar grades paved the ground for a stellar legal career. As the third chapter (1924-1930) shows, these ambitions were squashed and Freisler began to pursue an alternative career as a leading Nazi lawyer, who broke down the boundaries between street, courtroom, and city parliament in order to undermine the Novembersystem. The fourth chapter (1930-1932) looks at Freisler’s breakthrough during the early 1930s when he became a leading local politician as well as an indispensable legal advisor. The fifth chapter (1933) provides a close reading of Freisler’s role in the Nazi seizure of power, which shows that the especially violent period of transition is instrumental for understanding the nature of legal politics in the ‘Third Reich’. The penultimate chapter (1933-1942) traces the residues of these Weimar experiences through a selection of case studies from Freisler’s time as Staatssekretär in the Prussian and Reich Ministry of Justice. The final chapter (1942-1945) does the same for his stint as President of the Volksgerichtshof. Having fallen from grace as a senior civil servant, the Volksgerichtshof signified a chance for redemption and, in some sense, a return to the performative struggles of the Weimar period.