The German media company Axel Springer (Image) must once again pay weather entrepreneur Jörg Kachelmann compensation for pain and suffering. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected an appeal by the company. It had objected to the fact that no appeal had been allowed against a ruling by the Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG) from 2016. This makes the OLG decision legally binding.
Springer must pay the 60-year-old compensation of 170,000 euros. Including damages and interest since August 2010, the amount amounts to around 236,000 euros, said Kachelmann's lawyer Ralf Höcker on Thursday. The NDR magazine "Zapp" first reported on the matter.
In response to an inquiry, Springer stated that the decision by the judges in Karlsruhe was noted with regret. "Insofar as our appeal against denial of leave to appeal was rejected, we consider the decision to be wrong and not appropriate to the importance of the freedom of reporting protected by fundamental rights. We are therefore examining the possibility of a constitutional complaint." According to an OLG spokesperson, however, this would not have a suspensive effect.
The BGH ruling of July 23, 2018 concerned publications in the online edition of the Image-newspaper. The BGH only allowed an appeal with regard to an amount of 10,000 euros for a photo of Kachelmann in front of a law firm.
Personal rights "seriously violated"
Kachelmann was acquitted of the charge of rape in 2011. In the reporting on his trial, the Image-According to the Cologne judges, the newspaper repeatedly and seriously violated Kachelmann's personal rights in its printed edition and online. The Higher Regional Court did not allow an appeal against the decision. With regard to the print edition, the BGH had already rejected Springer's appeal against denial of leave to appeal in the spring. In the proceedings, the OLG had set the compensation at 215,000 euros.
According to Höcker, the total compensation for pain and suffering including interest for both proceedings together amounts to more than 530,000 euros. Springer did not comment on specific amounts of money. Kachelmann wrote on Twitter: "This concludes the legal proceedings of 2010/2011 for me."
His lawyer told the news agency DPA that his client was not only the victim of a false accusation, but also of a terrible campaign by the Image-newspaper. The sum of money could not compensate for the damage suffered. "Nevertheless, we are delighted with this success." (SDA)
The Schaffhausen native is excited about his involvement as a blogger: "There's so much nonsense about the weather in the media today, so I want to be a calming influence, focusing on phenomena that really exist rather than the things you hear about just because it clicks well."
His ambitious quest, he says, will be to shed light on the weather from a different angle in an entertaining and entertaining way - despite modern times, "when a stiff cauliflower cloud would only elicit a sad yawn."
Jörg Kachelmann has been working as a meteorologist for 35 years. He studied geography (University of Zurich) and atmospheric physics (ETH Zurich), was once a filmmaker, presenter and editor at Swiss television and deputy editor-in-chief at the magazine Schweizer Illustrierte. He founded the weather service Meteomedia, the program "Meteo" and several other weather companies in Switzerland and abroad. In 2013, he sold Meteomedia - to found the companies Meteologix and Kachelmann, among others.
Jörg Kachelmann is married and has three children.
In the first instance, the Cologne Regional Court had awarded him 635,000 euros. The new amount is 513,000 euros including interest. The Swiss weather presenter Kachelmann was acquitted of rape charges in 2011. In its coverage of his trial, Bild-Zeitung had, in the judges' view, repeatedly overstepped the bounds of what was permissible in its print edition and online and seriously violated Kachelmann's right of personality. However, neither the Regional Court nor the Higher Regional Court could recognize a targeted campaign by Springer together with other media. The highest compensation to date in a similar case was 400'000 euros for the Swedish Princess Madeleine, a ruling by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court in 2009. (hae/SDA)
The subject of the lawsuit is the reporting on a rape trial against him. In 2011, Kachelmann was acquitted of the accusation of rape by the Mannheim Regional Court in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The meteorologist accuses Bild of a serious violation of his personal rights. Bild rejects his accusations as unfounded. Kachelmann, who appeared in court in person, is demanding monetary compensation totaling 2.2 million euros from the newspaper and its online edition. He has also taken legal action against the magazines Bunte and Focus. These proceedings
were postponed to another date on Wednesday. Kachelmann's total claims amount to 3.25 million euros.
His lawyer Ralf Höcker expects that he will obtain "the highest compensation ever claimed in Germany for violation of personal rights". The spokesman for the regional court, Christian Hoppe, said that the "sums of money awarded in the case law to date were below the amount that Mr. Kachelmann is demanding".
Injunction action fails
Kachelmann has already suffered a defeat in the dispute over the reporting of the trial: in 2013, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected an action for an injunction against the reporting of the online portal Bild.de in the last instance. The judges considered the public interest to be more important than Kachelmann's personal rights. Accordingly, the media may also report without restriction on intimate details that come up in public criminal proceedings. However, according to the ruling, the primacy of press law does not apply to so-called suspicion reporting prior to an indictment. (SDA)
The 54-year-old meteorologist does not give his professional colleagues a good report card. Especially in the German media, with forecasts of up to 39 degrees and "African heat waves," Kachelmann said on his website that they were practicing "full-blown journalism. Twitter channel. He told Schweiz am Sonntag that he did not know whether it was a matter of "dubious weather people telling robber stories" or "dubious media people who get media-hungry weather people to claim nonsense". Although at certain altitudes the air is getting warmer than it has been for 70 years, the announced temperatures are hardly possible due to various meteorological factors - in the end, "the stupid weather people and newspapers" would "gloss over their nonsense" with the perceived temperature, Kachelmann said. Also to long-term forecasts can be said today about Youtube and Twitter - no one knows how the whole summer will turn out. All forecasts in this direction are "pure gugus". (hae/SaS).
Image: Keystone
This also applies if these circumstances were addressed in the public hearing, as the Cologne Higher Regional Court ruled on Tuesday. Kachelmann, who was charged with the suspected rape of an ex-girlfriend and acquitted by the Mannheim Regional Court, had sued against the reporting of several media. He had already received justice from the Regional Court. The appeals of the media have now also been rejected.
During questioning, Kachelmann had described in detail the usual and consensual sexual intercourse between him and his ex-girlfriend. The three media sued had disseminated details of this. In the opinion of the Higher Regional Court, this infringed on Kachelmann's right of personality. The interest of the media had to take second place to the plaintiff's right to protection of his privacy, it said. The publicity of a courtroom could not be compared with the effect of a publication in the media, and even more so of a publication on the Internet.
The details published had no connection with the specific accusation. Until a conviction, the presumption of innocence applies in favor of the accused. The Higher Regional Court has allowed an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. (SDA/DAPD)
(Image: Keystone)
According to the newspaper Der Sonntag, in addition to CFO Norbert Steffen, who is leaving the weather service provider at the end of October, the job of Executive Board member Alexander Lehmann is also at risk. The Head of Meteorology and Sales was absent from Meteomedia's press conference on Friday, according to Der Sonntag. It is also unclear whether Kachelmann will continue his collaboration with the PR agency Farner. Board member Martin Kurer wants to focus more on press relations himself. Board member Dietmar Gamp has already been replaced. The Meteomedia spokesperson and Farner employee did not wish to comment on this to the Sonntagspublikation and described the departure of the CFO as a "normal process".
(Image: Keystone)
]]>Urs Knapp, spokesman for Meteomedia, the weather service founded by Kachelmann, confirmed to the news agency SDA that there are plans for further presentations, according to Blick.ch. Kachelmann would not be able to present the weather every day, but it would be possible on Fridays.
Kachelmann has been on trial at Mannheim District Court since September on rape charges. His girlfriend of many years had accused the 52-year-old of threatening and raping her with a knife after an argument in February 2010. Kachelmann denies the crime.