Federal Constitutional Court refuses to hear constitutional complaint against publication of novel ‘Innerstädtischer Tod’

The Federal Constitutional Court has refused to hear a constitutional complaint filed by a Berlin gallery owner couple against the publication of the novel ‘Innerstädtischer Tod’ (Inner-City Death) by Luchterhand Verlag (Ref. 1 BvR 773/25). The publisher and author Christoph Peters are therefore free to continue distributing the work without restriction.

The judges in Karlsruhe stated that there were no obvious irreparable violations of fundamental rights in the novel. It was reasonable to expect the complainants to first conduct proceedings on the merits of the case. The Hamburg Regional Court and the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court had previously rejected applications for a ban on the book in preliminary injunction proceedings. 

"The Federal Constitutional Court has made it unmistakably clear that the threshold for interfering with artistic freedom is high. Authors of fictional works are permitted to make references to the present, address current events and process them literarily – all of this is protected by the constitution," explains Dr Konstantin Wegner, partner at SKW Schwarz, representing the Penguin Random House publishing group, which also includes Luchterhand Verlag. ‘The decision provides legal certainty for literary engagement with contemporary issues and thus sends a signal to authors and publishers as a whole,’ Wegner continues.