In the legal dispute over an abusive sculpture called “Judensau” at the town church in Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) announced its verdict on Tuesday (10 a.m.). A plaintiff wants the anti-Jewish sandstone relief from the 13th century to be removed (Az. VI ZR 172/20).
At the oral hearing in Karlsruhe two weeks ago, the judges had not yet indicated the direction in which they were tending. The man had failed in the lower courts.
The reason was, among other things, that for years an explanatory board near the image has been pointing out the context. The town parish refers to this memorial and describes the “Wittenberger Sau” as “a difficult legacy, but also a document of contemporary history”. The case is explosive because the Wittenberg town church is considered the mother church of the Reformation. Martin Luther (1483-1546) once preached here.
