Case #0027
How it began. In January 2020 we followed the stories from Wuhan, the images from Bergamo and the first Covid case in Germany. In early April 2020 a nationwide lockdown was imposed. The situation was strange – the media panic did not match the actual numbers of illness and death. On 15 April 2020, out of this observation, we founded the initiative „Ärzte für Aufklärung” (Doctors for Enlightenment) – according to our research the first medical group in Germany to publicly position itself against the Corona measures. When mask requirements were imposed in Hamburg on 27 April 2020 – although the WHO at that time still advised against the effectiveness of medical masks against infectious diseases – it became clear to us that something was fundamentally wrong.
Public appearances. In the period that followed I was a speaker at around 30 demonstrations across Germany. As a physician I could publicly explain what our observations at the bedside showed. In August 2020, „Ärzte für Aufklärung” distributed, according to its own figures, around four million flyers on the impending vaccine mandate, on the question of what masks do to our children, and on the difference between a „real” and what we saw as a staged pandemic. On 29 August 2020 I stood at the microphone before tens of thousands of people at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. There was no political response.
Mask exemption certificates. Patients came to my practice with concrete clinical indications – COPD, asthma, anxiety disorders, panic attacks under prolonged mask requirements. I issued the certificates on the basis of my clinical assessment. Over 55 years of my career I have written approximately 80,000 certificates. With mask exemptions this was suddenly meant to be a criminal offence.
First house search in early 2021, second in June 2022 – each time 15 police officers in bulletproof vests. The first time my phone and laptop were taken; they have not been returned to this day. Property damage: about €1,000.
Christmas Eve 2021 – the indictment by the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office is served on me. On the same day, the NDR broadcasts the press release of the prosecutor’s office. In the following days, posters with my photo, full name and the alleged offence appear in Hamburg’s underground stations. (Others have to pay a great deal of money for such visibility.)
38 times as a witness. From 2022 onwards I was summoned 38 times as a witness regarding my own „inaccurate certificates of accommodation” – that is, mask exemption certificates – before local and regional courts across Germany. The verdicts ranged from requests for acquittal by the prosecution to fines of €7,200 for the patient. A jurist may explain this range on identical facts to me.
My own trial. From 7 May 2024 I stood trial myself before the Hamburg Regional Court. Accusation: issuance of inaccurate health certificates in 57 cases. After more than 25 trial days the court delivered its verdict on 9 December 2024: 1 year 10 months of imprisonment, suspended. The suspension was granted, according to the reasoning, solely on account of my age. The proceedings, incidentally, took place in the courtroom otherwise reserved for terrorism trials.
Appeal and constitutional complaint. We filed an appeal. On 21 October 2025 the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the verdict; five cases were withdrawn by the BGH without changing the overall sentence. Jurists with whom I have spoken consider the BGH ruling to be politically motivated. My lawyer has currently lodged a hearing complaint with the BGH and a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court.
What it has cost. Over €130,000 in legal and procedural fees – to date. To obtain one’s right one needs strong nerves, a robust environment – family, friends – and a great deal of money.
My mantra. A good conscience is a soft pillow. I remain firmly convinced that I have observed the laws of the state and of my profession – as well as the Declaration of Geneva and the laws of my own conscience. I am at peace with myself. This aspect rather aggravated the sentence, since according to the judge I was „not contrite”. For me, contrition in this matter would be hypocrisy – I stand by my actions and would act in the same way in the same situation.
Beyond my own case. My personal fate is overshadowed by the situation of thousands of colleagues. According to our ongoing research within the „Ärzte für Aufklärung” initiative, more than 1,000 doctors in Germany have so far been convicted in connection with the Corona measures. Seven have died under the burden of these proceedings. Others are in prison, have gone into hiding abroad or have lost their economic existence. According to our analysis, around 90 percent of doctors who issued mask exemption certificates have experienced at least one house search; one female colleague over only one single certificate. The highest figure was eight house searches against a single colleague. Reports of physical violence also exist. In my case in Hamburg it fortunately remained non-violent.
Cui bono?
A good conscience is a soft pillow. I would act the same way in the same situation.
My conclusion after five years of proceedings: we must network and resist together, in a controlled way – against what we see as an overreaching state. And we must inform other countries what is happening here. Hardly anyone outside Germany believes it possible that there is politically motivated persecution of physicians in present-day Germany. Through us, the office of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was informed; he has addressed this situation in a letter to the German government.
The information in this case report comes from the affected person themselves. The editorial team verifies whether a criminal or professional prosecution has taken place; it cannot verify the factual accuracy of every single statement. Responsibility for the correctness of the account lies with the respective author.
Case #0015
Accusation: Conduct detrimental to the employer; violation of the professional code
Case #0026
Accusation: Issuing inaccurate health certificates (7 mask-exemption certificates issued without personal examination)
Case #0031
Accusation: A three-year ban from practising, a house search and fines — over mask-exemption certificates issued after personal e…