In the meantime, not a day goes by without an escalation of the dispute over Ernst Weidenbusch, president of the Jäger and CSU member of the state parliament. So it is now certain that the anonymous letter is genuine, in which former full-time employees of the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV) raise massive accusations against Weidenbusch. Four authors have come out to a lawyer, so that he has no doubts about their authorship and has confirmed this in a lawyer’s assurance to the BJV Presidium. The reason for the complicated procedure: the former BJV employees want to remain anonymous in public. Weidenbusch himself forwarded the legal insurance to the Jäger district groups on the day it was received by the BJV. The cover letter to her says: “It is now the task of the Presidium to take the content – as announced – as an opportunity for a self-critical examination of the letter.”
The authors of the letter accuse Weidenbusch of “insults, disrespect and outbursts of anger”. They also say that employees were played off against each other in one-on-one meetings, others were judged in their absence, tasks and functions were changed “overnight” without this being communicated to those affected. A number of employees had fallen ill, others had resigned to protect themselves. Weidenbusch called the letter, like other protests against his management style, “a disgusting concerted action by a small group of people who don’t want to let the hunting association rest.” He rejects demands for resignation. Because of the dispute, more and more hunters are now leaving the BJV, including prominent figures such as Philipp Franz zu Guttenberg. The brother of the former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg owns extensive forests in Upper Franconia and Styria and is very respected in the forest and hunting scene. Entire district groups are also completely frustrated. The Berchtesgaden hunters, for example, recently returned the organization of the Landesjägertag 2023 to the BJV because of the dispute. In hunting circles, the event is one of the most important of the year. Their award to a circle group is usually considered a great honor.