Court stops Salzburg Festival: Brüggemann wins in the legal dispute!

Court stops Salzburg Festival: Brüggemann wins in the legal dispute!

Cultural journalist Axel Brüggemann is the focus of a heated legal dispute with the Salzburg Festival Fund and its director Markus Hinterhäuser. Already last year they received warnings of a total of 100,000 euros from Brüggemann after reporting critically about the festival. Two of his articles on his website "BackstageClassical.com" were attacked, whereby he had already agreed in three out of ten points, which meant that he would no longer repeat these statements publicly. Despite these concessions, the festival continued to pursue the remaining seven points.

Now the Hamburg Regional Court has rejected the injunctive relief in all mentioned points. The court decided that Brüggemann was entitled to report critically about back houses and to accuse him of silence internal and external critics. This decision was greeted by Brüggemann, who thanked his supporters and emphasized how important independent journalism is. In order to avert the lawsuit and to cover its legal costs, he had previously asked for financial support from his reader. The Salzburg Festival, represented by President Kristina Hammer and others, were dissatisfied with the court decision and have already filed a complaint with the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court to proceed against the judgment, as is reported on "backstageClassical.com".

the legal consequences

With the decision now available, the struggle for freedom of expression and journalistic integrity remains on the brink. The court also pointed out that the reviews raised so far, including the claims on mismanagement at the Salzburg Festival, were legitimate. Brüggemann emphasized the legal steps as a sign of resistance and importance of investigative journalism, especially in times when criticism is often smashed. The case is now being negotiated before the Hamburg Higher Regional Court, and this remains an important chapter in cultural reporting.