Heilbronn, 28 May 2026
The Heilbronn District Court has imposed a penal order for insult against a person who referred to German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz as a 'Lackaffe' in a Facebook comment, while the public prosecutor's office separately declined to prosecute another user who called Merz 'Pinocchio'.
The case stems from a visit by Merz to Heilbronn in October of the previous year. The local police headquarters posted about the event on Facebook, and the post attracted nearly 400 comments.
How the investigation unfolded
The Heilbronn public prosecutor's office subsequently examined 38 of those posts more closely for potential criminal relevance. One comment that described Merz as a 'Lackaffe' – a German term roughly equivalent to 'dandy' or 'fop' – led to an application for a penal order.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office told SWR that the responsible senior prosecutor concluded 'dass in diesem Fall kein sachlicher Zusammenhang mit dem politischen Wirken bestand, sondern die Ehrverletzung im Vordergrund stand' – meaning the comment lacked a factual connection to Merz's political activity and instead constituted a personal violation of honor.
The court subsequently issued the penal order, imposing 30 daily rates. The amount of an individual daily rate was not disclosed. The spokesperson explained that 'dadurch Rückschluss auf das angenommene Einkommen gezogen werden kann' – publishing the figure could allow conclusions about the person's income.
The penal order is not yet legally binding because the man filed an objection. The case will now proceed to a court hearing unless the objection is withdrawn.
Why 'Pinocchio' was treated differently
In contrast, the public prosecutor's office did not object to a separate comment that called Merz 'Pinocchio'. That case was discontinued.
The discontinuation was justified on free-speech grounds. The prosecutor's office stated in the spring that calling Merz 'Pinocchio' constitutes 'eine von der Meinungsfreiheit gedeckte und damit zulässige Machtkritik' – a form of permissible criticism of those in power, covered by freedom of expression.
Pinocchio is a children's book character whose nose grows when he lies, and the reference is widely understood as a political metaphor for dishonesty.
The legal line between insult and criticism
The differing legal outcomes highlight the boundary German law draws between protected political speech and personal insult. While 'Pinocchio' was seen as a comment on Merz's political conduct, 'Lackaffe' was judged to be a purely personal slight with no substantive link to his role as chancellor.
Friedrich Merz is the Federal Chancellor of Germany and a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The case has drawn attention to how German authorities police online discourse about senior politicians, particularly in the context of social media commentary on official police posts.
The man who faced the criminal proceeding related to the 'Pinocchio' comment was identified in earlier reporting as Andreas Hüttner from Heilbronn. The identity of the individual who wrote the 'Lackaffe' comment has not been publicly confirmed by authorities.
The Heilbronn public prosecutor's office confirmed the penal order to SWR upon request. The case is one of a growing number of legal actions in Germany concerning insults against politicians on social media platforms.