In the legal struggle between two former mayors of Taufkirch, Walter Riedle suffered a defeat before the Munich Higher Regional Court (OLG). The former head of town hall had to assure in the context of a judgment of acknowledgment that he would no longer refer to Jörg Pötke, his successor, as a “removed mayor”. Riedle – he was the CSU politician from 1972 to 1990 – did this in a letter to the editor that was published in November.
Pötke then complained to the Munich district court and obtained an injunction that prohibited his predecessor from making that allegation – under threat of a fine of up to 250,000 euros. However, the court later withdrew this order, whereupon Pötke went before the Higher Regional Court. And after the latter had made it clear during the hearing that it considered Riedle’s chances of success to be low, he agreed to a judgment of acknowledgment.
The background to the dispute is Pötke’s departure from the mayor’s office. After winning the election in 2008 as a candidate of the Taufkirchen worth living initiative, the dentist was suspended in autumn 2012 due to allegations of bullying. However, he was not relieved of his post. Rather, Pötke officially left the mayor’s office after the 2014 election; the case against him was eventually dropped. Since then, Pötke has consistently resisted claims that he had been removed from office. Regarding the OLG’s most recent decision, the 75-year-old said: “Perhaps the former mayor will take the verdict as an opportunity to reduce all disrespectful statements about all his successors.”