The famous codification controversy of 1814 between Carl von Savigny and Anton Thibaut has been a turning point in the history of European legal culture. Starting form this remarkable and very passionate debate it is my intention to examine Savigny’s 'Beruf unserer Zeit für Gesetzgebung', stressing the importance of space and time in his thought. Even today it is a perspective that is very inspiring, being an excellent opportunity to think about the present. Moreover this brilliant pamphlet has raised the most important question of the relationship between the State, its constitution and its territory. In the following years, the issue of how political institutions are rooted in space has been crucial and still echoes in the debate about globalization.
