Memoir writer Heribert Schwan published details from personal conversations with Helmut Kohl in a book. The former chancellor should receive one million euros in compensation. Does the money go to his widow?
Karlsruhe – Shortly before his death in 2017, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was awarded millions in compensation – is his widow still entitled to it? This is decided today in the last instance by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.
The dispute over the money is part of a whole series of legal disputes between Kohl’s widow and sole heir Maike Kohl-Richter and his former ghostwriter Heribert Schwan.
The journalist and historian had written his memoirs for Kohl and spent hundreds of hours in talks with the long-time CDU Chancellor. But before the fourth and final volume, the two men fell out. In 2014, Schwan launched the book “Legacy: The Kohl Protocols” on his own initiative. It also became a bestseller because it contained some hearty statements by Kohl about numerous well-known personalities – which Kohl had never released for publication.
Highest compensation in legal history
Because of violated personal rights, the Cologne district court awarded the 87-year-old one million euros in 2017 – the highest compensation in German legal history. Just a few weeks later, before Kohl’s death, the judgment was no longer legally binding.
There is even a demand for at least five million euros. In the appellate instance, however, the Cologne Higher Regional Court decided in 2018 that the claim was not inheritable. It is expected that the BGH judges will agree – at least that was what became apparent in the October hearing.
The highest civil judges also decide on the revisions in a second procedure, which affects 116 passages of text. The question here is whether they can be disseminated literally or analogously. Schwan is already legally prohibited from doing so. There is still a dispute about what the publisher is allowed to do. The book is currently only on the market as an e-book – with a number of omissions.
Co-author Tilman Jens has since died, the legal dispute with his heirs has been interrupted. The BGH is therefore only concerned with the monetary claim against Schwan and the publisher. dpa
