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The introduction of same-sex marriage in Germany in summer 2017 has been a matter of considerable debate, notably in view of its constitutionality. Against this background, Ferdinand Wollenschläger discusses whether the German constitution's specific guarantee of marriage as an institution is still limited to the traditional understanding and thus prohibits the legislator from extending the right to marry to same-sex couples (without a prior constitutional amendment) - an issue also raising a fundamental question of constitutional interpretation, namely the stability or dynamic of constitutional law. Dagmar Coester-Waltjen provides the international context of this debate and analyses, from a perspective of comparative law, the situation in foreign legal systems, notably whether and to what extent the institution of marriage enjoys a particular protection.