Stuttgart 21 – Bonatz copyright must give way to railway interests

With the judgment of the Regional Court (LG) Stuttgart of 19.05.2010 (17 O 42/10), the first instance of one of the most significant copyright cases of recent years has come to an end. The plaintiff, Peter Dübbers, grandson of Prof. Paul Bonatz, sued Deutsche Bahn over the planned demolition of parts of Stuttgart Main Station, which was designed by his grandfather and erected in the year 1922. In the plaintiff's view, the planned partial demolition of the side wings mutilates the building as a complete work of art and thereby infringes his inherited copyright.