Abstract This article deals with the history of the Court of Justice of the European
Union since its foundation in 1952 as a court of the European Coal and Steel
Community. In an introductory chapter the Court is described on a comparative
basis with other supreme courts. The European spirit of the Court is described as
are the first years of its existence. In the first part the foundation and the juridical
architecture of the Court are explained. In the second part the history of the Court
is followed from the landmark cases of 1963 and 1964 through the most important
cases of the 1970s and 1980s up to a number of cases in recent decades marked by
important changes in the Treaties on which the jurisdiction of the Court is founded.