BGH judgment
Dispute over quotes from the former chancellor: widow Maike Kohl will not be compensated
Maike Kohl stands in front of a portrait of her late husband Helmut Kohl.
© Andreas Arnold / DPA
In the dispute over allegedly widespread quotations in the controversial book by former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the widow Maike Kohl cannot hope for compensation. The reason: the claim for compensation is not inheritable.
The widow of the former Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU), Maike Kohl-Richter, does not receive any compensation for distributing alleged quotes from Kohl in a controversial book. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe rejected their corresponding demand for “at least five million euros” on Monday. A claim to compensation for the violation of personal rights is not hereditary, it said in the judgment. (Ref. VI ZR 248/18 and VI ZR 258/18)
The right to compensation cannot be inherited
Of the total of 116 passages that the former Chancellor’s widow attacked as misquotations, the BGH prohibited the publisher from distributing 29 passages verbatim or analogously. What is decisive is the so-called post-mortem right of personality and thus the question of whether the misquotations “grossly” distort the life of the deceased. This question could not be conclusively clarified for all passages: some of the passages were referred back to the appellate court for further clarification.
The decisive reason for the rejection of Kohl-Richter’s claim for compensation was the lack of hereditary nature of the compensation claim. In the foreground of compensation is the idea of satisfaction for the injured party – however, no satisfaction can be given to a deceased, explained the BGH.