Schroeder stops murder novel

A German court has granted Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder an order halting the publication of a crime novel in which a chancellor is shot in Schroeder’s home city.

The Hamburg state court ruled that The End of the Chancellor – The Final Shot cannot be distributed on the grounds that it describes the killing of Schroeder, spokeswoman Sabine Westphalen said.

It found that the book’s contents constituted a “serious breach of his personal rights".

Publisher Betzel Verlag disputed that finding, arguing that the novel does not mention Schroeder by name. But its manager, Dietrich Reinhardt, said the publisher would obey the court ruling.

The book tells the story of a ruined chemist who shoots the chancellor outside a rail station in Hanover, Schroeder’s home city, because he blames politicians for his bankruptcy.

The banning order was the second Schroeder has secured against the book. In April, the Hamburg court prohibited its publication because the novel’s original cover featured a blurred profile of a man resembling him, and the publisher issued it with a new cover.