Overview
- The ministry admitted that forwarding the 72-year-old’s €9.50 late-fee complaint to the police under a 2022 Reichsbürger decree was excessive.
- Officers from the Kriminalpolizei visited pensioner Karlheinz Falkenstein’s Heddesheim home on July 7 to assess a possible threat to the democratic order.
- Falkenstein’s May letter to Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz included satirical medieval-themed illustrations depicting “Raubritter, Strauchdiebe und Wegelagerer” to protest perceived tax unfairness.
- The finance minister’s spokesperson and the head of the Weinheim tax office held conciliatory phone calls with Falkenstein to clarify the harmless intent of his drawings.
- The episode has prompted public discussion over the balance between citizen satire and state security protocols in tax administration.