Berlin, Bremen, Göttingen, March 24, 2026
The representative of the bookstore "Zur schwankenden Weltkugel" (To the Wavering Globe), attorney Dr. Jasper Prigge, filed an urgent application with the Berlin Administrative Court yesterday evening. He seeks to prohibit the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media from publicly labeling the bookstore and its owners as political extremists. In an interview with Die Zeit on March 18, 2026, Minister of State for Culture Dr. Wolfram Weimer, when asked, "But why did you intervene in the awarding of the bookstore prize?", stated: "If the state awards prizes and uses taxpayers' money, then it cannot do so for political extremists."
In response to an out-of-court demand for a cease-and-desist declaration, Dr. Weimer, through a Hamburg law firm, stated that the statement in the interview bore no relation to the bookstore owners. He claimed he had merely presented abstract exclusion criteria. Furthermore, Dr. Weimer asserted that he had appeared in the interview in a private capacity and invoked his right to freedom of expression. "As a last resort," Dr. Weimer maintained that his statements were based on a sufficient factual basis. He argued that he must be able to act on information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and communicate publicly based on that information.
“This is a helpless defense strategy. Weimer gives a lengthy interview about the exclusion of three bookstores from this year's bookstore prize and claims that because he didn't name any names, no one knows who he's referring to. One gets the impression that Mr. Weimer lacks the necessary respect for the affected booksellers and the public, as he apparently considers them stupid,” Dr. Prigge commented on the letter. “Thanks to the nationwide debate of the past few days, it is common knowledge who the affected booksellers are. This is also assumed throughout the interview when three bookstores are mentioned.”
Dr. Prigge continued: “With his statement, Mr. Weimer sought to brand bookstores as extremists by invoking state authority in order to legitimize his own actions. He relies on vague accusations instead of presenting verifiable evidence. As a public official, however, he is bound by the principle of objectivity. Mr. Weimer had the opportunity to back down, but chose not to. Therefore, the Berlin Administrative Court will now decide whether he violated his official duties.”
"The situation is becoming increasingly absurd, both legally and politically. Any minister who has to defend himself by claiming to have given this interview 'as a last resort' in private shouldn't be surprised when, after just one week, a petition demanding his resignation has garnered over 130,000 signatures," commented attorney Sven Adam, concluding his remarks on the recent statements made by the law firm commissioned by the Minister of State for Culture. The "Reading Helps!" campaign (https://lesen-hilft.org/) has launched a petition on WeAct (https://weact.campact.de/petitions/kultur-braucht-freiheit-freiheit-braucht-kultur-weimer-muss-weg) demanding Wolfram Weimer's resignation. As of March 24, 2026, the petition has been signed by more than 130,000 people.
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)
