He was born to a Jewish family in Friedberg, Hessen, Germany. He had to emigrate from Germany on October 1, 1933, due to the Nazi regime. He accepted the official call of the Turkish State and started working as a lecturer at Istanbul University Faculty of Law on October 4, 1933.
In addition, Prof Hirsch advised the Turkish government on various issues and pioneered the preparation of some laws.
After graduating from high school in 1920, he started working at his uncle Otto Hirsch's bank in Frankfurt and also studied Economics and Social Sciences at the university.
In 1922, he completed his law education at Munich and then at Giessen State University Faculty of Law and graduated in 1924.
In 1930, he taught as an associate professor in Frankfurt in the fields of Commercial Law, Civil Law, German, and International Private Law.
In 1931, he was appointed as a member of the Frankfurt Civil Court of First Instance (Landgericht).
In accordance with the "Law on Reorganizing Conditions for Professional Civil Servants" dated April 7, 1933, since he did not belong to the Aryan Race, he lost his job as a judge and was also prohibited from receiving education as an academician.
He had to emigrate from Germany in October 1933.
During the 1933-1934 academic year, he became a temporary associate professor at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Law. While he was staying at the Zonneheuvel hotel in Amsterdam, Prof Philip Schwartz made an offer to him over the phone to become the head of the Department of Commercial Law at Istanbul University, and he accepted the offer.
Between 1933 and 1943, he gave undergraduate and doctoral courses in the fields of Commercial Law and Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights at Istanbul University.
Between 1943 and 1952, he became a faculty member at Ankara University Faculty of Law.
On September 21, 1943, his citizenship application, which he had made five years ago, was accepted and he became a Turkish national. He was given the name "Ernest Hirş" in accordance with the Turkish language compatibility.
He received his lawyer's license in 1945. (He was registered with the Istanbul Bar Association on 5 July 1945 with the registration number 1696 and was transferred to the Ankara Bar Association on 29 May 1946. The registration date is 13 June 1946 and his Registration Number is 372.)
In 1952, he was persuaded to return to Germany by Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter. After returning to Germany, he was readmitted to German citizenship and withdrew his Turkish citizenship, but kept his Turkish passport until his death.
He served as vice rector at the Freie University of Berlin between 1953 and 1955 and was later elected rector.
Prof Hirsch has carried out important scientific activities in every field of Turkish law. He is the codifier of many laws. In particular, the duality between the Civil Code and the Commercial Code was resolved with the contributions of this lawyer.
He prepared the drafts of the "Intellectual and Artistic Works Law No. 5846" and the "Turkish Commercial Code", which are still in force, on his own - without receiving any fee in return.
He ensured the preparation of the "Ataturk Law" in 1951. With this law, not only the statues of the founder of the Turkish State but also his physical memory was protected, subject to the sanctions of criminal law.
He also ensured the entry of CHP's six arrows into the Constitution. His work "Method in Practical Law" is a law source that is still being reprinted.
Among the scientists of Jewish origin who came to Istanbul University, he was the scientist who learned Turkish at the earliest and started teaching students "Turkish" for the first time.
Also, Prof. Hirsch made a great contribution to Istanbul University's law library, which was no longer just a study and reading room, but one of the best libraries in Turkey. He emphasized the indispensability of the library for the university by saying, "A university without a library is like a barracks without an arsenal."