Berlin, Bremen, Göttingen, March 19, 2026
The statement made by Minister of State for Culture Weimer in the newspaper Die Zeit on March 18, 2026, that the three bookstores excluded from the German Bookstore Prize were "political extremists," has now had legal consequences. The Berlin bookstore "Zur Schwankenden Weltkugel" (To the Wavering Globe) has issued a formal warning to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) in a letter dated today, demanding a legally binding declaration to cease and desist. Should the authority fail to comply with this demand by the deadline of March 23, 2026, at noon, it will face an application for an injunction at the Berlin Administrative Court.
“Minister of State for Culture Weimer is unlawfully infringing on fundamental rights. Labeling him an extremist is stigmatizing,” explains attorney Dr. Jasper Prigge. “Assessments by state authorities must be based on sufficient factual evidence. Should Mr. Weimer not retract his defamation, he will have to explain in court what alleged grounds exist against the bookstores. He can no longer hide behind supposed confidentiality.”
The cease-and-desist letter argues that the statement violates the general right of personality. Official statements must adhere to the general principles of the rule of law, specifically the prohibition of arbitrariness and the principle of proportionality. This requires sufficient evidence. Attorney Dr. Prigge explains: “When Mr. Weimer refers to an assessment by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, according to which there is supposedly information regarding the bookstores, this does not constitute a sufficient factual basis. This is also an assessment that would have to be supported by concrete facts.”
In addition, the bookstores are pressing for clarification based on Wolfram Weimer's statements and have submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. According to Mr. Weimer, "experts who are very familiar with the book tradehad fundamental doubts about the eligibility" of the three bookstores for the prize. Following a subsequent inquiry via the Ministry of the Interior to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency), the agency stated that "something serious" was at hand. "We are now demanding access to all internal communications between departments, divisions, and management levels that originated in connection with the 2025 German Bookstore Prize," said Sven Adam, lawyer for the "Rote Straße" bookstore in Göttingen. The right to information also includes meeting minutes, memos, notes, and other records created in connection with the conception, implementation, awarding, or rejection of applications for the 2025 German Bookstore Prize, insofar as they are not subject to justified confidentiality. "The public should know what qualifies the alleged experts to question the jury's decision and what the 'serious' aspect is that is supposedly at hand. This lack of transparency and the use of meaningless terms like 'expert' or 'something serious' should finally stop."
Here is the warning letter:
Here is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
For press inquiries:
Attorney Sven Adam (Göttingen) – +49 (0) 551 488 31 69 – kontakt@anwaltskanzlei-adam.de
Attorney Dr. Jasper Prigge (Düsseldorf) – +49 (0) 211 4174 89 90 – kontakt@prigge-recht.de
Attorney Lea Voigt (Bremen) – +49 (0) 421 335 16 78 – voigt@strafdefender-bremen.de
For the bookstores: Bookstore Rote Straße (Göttingen), Golden Shop (Bremen), Bookstore zur schwankenden Weltkugel (Berlin)
