After months of insults directed at the husband of a gay teacher in Berlin-Neukölln, the public prosecutor’s office is now conducting an investigation. One case is aimed at a named alleged suspect, and a second case is directed at an unknown individual, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office in response to a request. “The investigations concern insult and stalking.” Previously, the daily newspaper Tagesspiegel (a paywalled article) and Correctiv reported on the case.
According to the report, the man—whose partner works as a teacher at the Gemeinschaftsschule on the Campus Rütli—initially received anonymous, often late-night calls on his mobile phone, with no one actually speaking on the line. Later, a letter containing obscene insults was found in the couple’s mailbox.
“After this string of incidents, my husband and I alerted the police,” the affected man told Tagesspiegel. “I’m afraid this could happen again.”
Regarding the status of the investigations, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor said the first case against a student at Campus Rütli had now been concluded, but he could not provide further details, including whether there is a potential anti-LGBTQ motive.
“In the second case, the investigations are ongoing.” Authorities are trying to identify additional suspects. “With a high degree of probability, they come from the student body.”
Rütli School Has Made Headlines Years Ago
The Rütli School in Neukölln, which is now known as Campus Rütli, had already drawn nationwide negative attention in 2006 and became a symbol of the education system’s perceived failures at the time. The school and the education administration initially did not respond to requests for comment.
Teachers wrote an open letter outlining what they viewed as intolerable conditions that made teaching nearly impossible at times. After years of significant funding and new staff, the school later came to be regarded as a showcase project.
The new case also brings to mind the case of Oziel Inácio-Stech, a gay teacher at Carl-Bolle-Grundschule in Berlin-Moabit (TheColu.mn reported). He says he was subjected to months of bullying, insults, and harassment from students because of his sexuality, and he claimed that Muslim students told him he would end up “in hell.” He went public with his experience. His case had been widely reported since the spring, drawing substantial criticism of Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) for alleged attempts to cover up queer-hostile behavior (TheColu.mn reported).
