Dr Gerd-Ulrich Kapteina
Areas of practice
Dr Kapteina specialises in matters pertaining to public construction and planning law and any related issues that need to be resolved, including immission control. A further specialist area is advising project developers and municipalities on the laws relating to listed buildings and the laws relating to the protection of the countryside. His clients include well-known and dedicated project development companies as well as cities and municipalities, industrial companies and commercial enterprises, clinics, large-scale retail traders and landowners.
Vita
After studying law at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany) and completing his legal training, Dr Gerd-Ulrich Kapteina began his professional career as a lawyer in Essen (Germany) in mid-1979. In April 1980, he completed his doctorate on the antitrust law topic "Sec. 5 GWB (Act against Restraints on Competition) – mid-sized business co-operations", which was also published as a book. In May 1982, Dr Kapteina started working in the area of administrative jurisdiction in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. As the presiding judge he was responsible for a department for construction matters at the Administrative Court of Dusseldorf, which amongst other things was responsible for public construction and planning law, listed buildings law and the laws relating to the protection of the countryside as well as immission control law during the process of the granting of building permits. In addition, he was the PR officer and spokesman for the court and also head of the department of judicial mediation and a judge for architects and city planners. Dr Kapteina is a full member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Baurecht (German Society for Construction Law), and a part-time lecturer at Akademie der Architektenkammer (Academy of the Association of Architects) in North Rhine-Westphalia and at the International Real Estate Business School (IREBS), as well as at various municipal training institutes. In addition to being a teacher and an author, he is also a co-editor of Entscheidungssammlung zum Denkmalrecht (EzD - law reports relating to listed buildings law). Furthermore, for 15 years Dr Kapteina has acted as the honorary spokesman for the non-partisan working group Essen 2030, Architektur und Stadtkultur (Architecture and urban culture). Dr Kapteina joined Luther as a partner in 2016.
Honors and distinctions
- JUVE Guide 2016/2017: Listed in "Real Estate - Private Construction Law"
- The Legal 500 Germany 2017: Recommended in "Construction Law" (first recommended in 2016)
- Best Lawyers 2025: Recommended in "Real Estate Law" (first recommendation in 2021)
Clients
- Providing planning advice on the extension of clinics at various locations
- Providing planning advice on drawing up a zoning plan for the extension of a metal working industry company with a focus on immission control law
- Providing planning advice on drawing up a zoning plan to realise a high-rise building, including PR work.
- Providing planning advice on drawing up a zoning plan for the construction of an administrative centre for a federal authority.
- Providing planning advice on neighbourhood development projects in various large cities
- Providing planning advice and providing advice on a case-by-case basis in connection with the creation of large-scale retail properties with a minimum retail space of 3,000 m2 in various locations.
- Providing fire safety law advice on the renovation of clinics and other large-scale construction projects
- Advising and guiding individual cities in listed building law issues relating to municipal reference objects.
- Criminal defence in the “Love Parade” criminal proceedings with a focus on special building regulations and event law.
- Legal advice on the sale of a high-rise building at Kruppstrasse in Essen
- Legal support in the preparation of a development plan for a high-rise building of 120 metres height with a vertiport for air taxis at Kennedydamm in Dusseldorf
Achim Meier
Partner
Essen
Ahmed Zoughbi
Associate
Dusseldorf
Alexander F. Liebing, LL.M.
Counsel
Leipzig
Andrea Heim
Senior Associate
Stuttgart
Andreas Mally
Counsel
Leipzig
Dr Andreas Vath
Partner
Munich
Andy Schaal, LL.M.
Counsel
Berlin
Anja Wechsler
Associate
Hamburg
Anna-Sophia Riebeling
Senior Associate
Frankfurt a.M.
Annkathrin Egerer-Tratt
Senior Associate
Stuttgart
Annkatrin Merzig
Senior Associate
Essen
Arne Stumpe
Associate
Hamburg
Dr Astrid Seehafer, M.Sc.
Partner
Berlin
Aurélien Latouche
Partner
Luxembourg
Dr Barbara Schmidt
Partner
Leipzig
Dr Bela Jansen
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Benedict Tobias Tiemann
Hamburg
Dr Benjamin Effler
Associate
Berlin
Bernhard Burkert, LL.M. (Stellenbosch)
Counsel
Berlin
Carla Witte
Counsel
Dusseldorf, Essen
Caroline Ackermann
Counsel
Munich
Charlotte Jodocy
Senior Associate
Essen
Prof. Christian Zanner
Partner
Berlin
Christian Brauns
Counsel
Stuttgart
Christiane Frye
Counsel
Essen
Christoph Schauenburg, LL.M. (London)
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Christoph Schnoor
Senior Associate
Hamburg
Christoph Kolb
Associate
Leipzig
Christoph Grünenthal, MLE
Associate
Berlin
Dr Clara Schulze Velmede
Associate
Leipzig
Cornelia Yzer
Of Counsel
Berlin
Darja Amelcenko, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Berlin
Dr David von Saucken, MJur (Oxon)
Partner
Berlin, London
Dennis Gerdes
Senior Consultant
Hamburg
Dianusch Nazari
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Dominika Peter
Associate
Berlin
Doreen König
Partner
Berlin
Ekkehard Hübel
Counsel
Hamburg
Elena Recklin
Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Elisa Röhr
Associate
Dusseldorf
Eric Doyé
Associate
Leipzig
Dr Florian Hensel, LL.M.
Associate
Munich
Frank Gutsche
Partner
Stuttgart
Dr Frank Seidel
Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Dr Frederic Tewes
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf
Frederike Peters
Senior Consultant
Berlin
Georg Scherpf
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Gerd-Ulrich Kapteina
Partner
Essen
Dr Gernot-Rüdiger Engel
Partner
Hamburg
Hannah Aigner
Senior Associate
Munich
Hannah-Laura Schütte
Senior Associate
Stuttgart, Dusseldorf
Henner-Matthias Puppel
Partner
Essen
Dr Henning Holz, LL.M.
Counsel
Hanover
Henrik Fischer
Associate
Leipzig
Prof. Dr Herbert Willems
Partner
Essen
Ingo Erberich
Partner
Cologne
Iris Glönkler
Partner
Stuttgart
Isabel Hoyer
Associate
Frankfurt a.M.
Isabel Dorothee Ruhnke, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Berlin
Jakob Gauly
Associate
Dusseldorf
Jan Lachhein
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf
Jenny Schindler
Senior Associate
Munich
Jens Röhrbein
Partner
Hanover
Jens Bock
Partner
Berlin
Jens Kaiser
Senior Associate
Leipzig
Dr Joanna Rupa-Sträßer, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Essen
Prof. Dr Johannes Beermann
Of Counsel
Berlin
Johannes Kugler
Associate
Munich
Jonathan Wrede
Associate
Berlin
Julian Günniker
Essen
Julian Pöhler
Counsel
Hamburg
Jutta Wittler
Partner
Cologne
Katharina Klenk-Wernitzki, Dipl. Reg.-Wiss
Partner
Berlin, Cologne
Katharina Foede
Associate
Berlin
Katharina Stefanie Franke
Senior Associate
Essen
Kati Gütschow
Associate
Dusseldorf
Kevin Oestreich
Senior Consultant
Essen
Lars Bollensen
Partner
Hamburg
Laura-Jane Williams
Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Lea Franken
Associate
Dusseldorf
Leif Dustin Schneider
Counsel
Ho Chi Minh City
Leonie Herwarth von Bittenfeld, LL.B., M.A.
Senior Associate
Frankfurt a.M.
Lisa Niesen
Senior Associate
Essen
Lisa Jennifer Schmölz
Counsel
Munich
Lisa Marie Siewer, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Cologne
Lukas Erdmann
Associate
Berlin
Magnus Wessels
Associate
Essen
Dr Manuel Heide
Partner
Berlin
Marco-Marcel Niebuhr
Senior Associate
Hanover
Maria Marinez
Associate
Frankfurt a.M.
Marie Hoster, LL.B.
Associate
Essen, Dusseldorf
Marielle Lorraine
Associate
Munich
Marius Merfeld
Associate
Dusseldorf
Martin Steuber, LL.M.
Partner
Dusseldorf
Dr Martin Fleckenstein
Partner
Berlin
Mathar Ahmed Bajwa, LL.M.
Associate
Cologne
Dr Mathias Mailänder
Counsel
Hamburg
Matthias Wagner
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Matthias Mehlwitz, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Essen
Max H. Becker
Associate
Essen
Mee Foo Moh
Of Counsel
Singapore
Dr Melanie Verstege
Counsel
Essen
Michael Kunkel, LL.M.
Partner
Cologne
Dr Michael Bormann
Partner
Dusseldorf
Morten Steimann
Associate
Essen
Ngoc Nhu Nguyen
Associate
Leipzig
Nicole Bittlingmayer
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Niklas Roth
Associate
Frankfurt a.M.
Nils Kramer
Senior Associate
Essen
Nina Eckardt
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf
Nina Hahnke
Associate
Essen
Nina Klünker, LL.M. (KCL)
Associate
Berlin
Nurolhaq Rostamzada
Senior Associate
Cologne
Ole-Jochen Melchior
Partner
Essen
Dr Oliver Maaz
Partner, Principal Consultant
Cologne
Oliver Glasen-Nitschke
Associate
Essen
Oliver Köhler
Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Patrick Gocht
Senior Associate
Leipzig
Paul Herter
Senior Associate
Stuttgart
Pauline Müller
Senior Associate
Dusseldorf
Dr Piotr Kwiatkowski, LL.M.
Senior Associate
Essen
Dr Richard Happ
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Rut Herten-Koch, M.A.
Partner
Berlin
Ruth-Maria Thomsen
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Dr Sabrina Desens
Partner
Leipzig
Sabrina Behbehani
Associate
Munich
Sarah Hossenfelder
Senior Associate
Essen
Sarah Peuser
Associate
Leipzig
Simon Wickel
Associate
Dusseldorf
Dr Stefan Altenschmidt, LL.M. (Nottingham)
Partner
Dusseldorf
Dr Stefan Kobes
Partner
Berlin
Dr Stefan Mager
Partner
Essen
Stephan Finck
Partner
Leipzig
Dr jur Stephan Götze
Partner
Berlin
Dr Stephen Lampert
Counsel
Munich
Susanne Burkert-Vavilova
Counsel
Essen
Susanne Winkler, LL.M.
Associate
Stuttgart
Theresa Oesch
Senior Associate
Leipzig
Dr Thomas Gohrke
Partner
Hanover, Leipzig
Dr Thomas Halberkamp
Partner
Hanover
Prof. Dr Tobias Leidinger
Partner
Dusseldorf
Tobias Osseforth, Mag. rer. publ.
Partner
Munich
Tobias Jedermann
Associate
Leipzig
Ulf-Dieter Pape
Partner
Hanover
Ulrich Siegemund
Of Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Vera Wechsler, LL.M. (Tulane)
Associate
Dusseldorf
Dr Zacharias-Alexis Schneider, LL.B., LL.M.
Partner
Hanover