Berlin Court Bans Minister from Calling Bookstore Operators 'Extremists'

The Berlin Administrative Court has issued an interim injunction prohibiting German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer from referring to the operators of the Berlin bookstore 'Zur schwankenden Weltkugel' as 'political extremists'. The ruling stems from a Zeit interview where Weimer used the term to justify removing three bookstores from the German Bookstore Prize list, citing 'constitutional protection-relevant findings' without providing evidence. The court found the statement violated the booksellers' general personality rights and lacked factual basis. Weimer can appeal to the Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg. The affected bookstores—'Zur schwankenden Weltkugel' (Berlin), Golden Shop (Bremen), and Rote Straße (Göttingen)—are also seeking transparency in the prize removal process. Their lawyer, Jasper Prigge, called the 'extremist' label stigmatizing and a violation of fundamental rights. The German Bookstore Prize awards 7,000 to 25,000 euros to about 100 small bookstores.