Overview

• Then-Interior Minister Nancy Faeser banned Compact on July 16, 2024, branding it a "central mouthpiece of right-wing extremism", and the prohibition was provisionally suspended in a fast-track ruling.
• The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is evaluating whether more than 240 pages of excerpts violate human dignity and democratic principles or remain protected opinion under press freedom.
• Prosecutors highlighted terms such as "Volksaustausch" and "Vernichtungsschlag gegen das deutsche Volk" to argue that the magazine aims to undermine Germany’s constitutional order.
• Defense lawyers contend the cited passages are rhetorical polemics without evidence of a cohesive extremist agenda and challenge the ministry’s selective citation of texts.
• On the second day of hearings, editor Jürgen Elsässer acknowledged publishing contributions from Austrian extremist Martin Sellner but maintained the magazine does not endorse his ideology wholesale.