COURTING BERLIN

Ever wonder what the inside of a Berlin courthouse looks like? We found out this morning at a 9:30 hearing at the Landgericht Berlin (regional courthouse) in Tegler Weg, across from the Schloß Charlottenburg on the River Spree. We are plaintiffs in a dispute with Swiss Air, arising out of the airline’s refusal to refund our round trip business class airfare after flight cancellations due to Coronavirus restrictions last July. We had booked Berlin-Zürich-Johannesburg- Windhoek and back for my husband’s 70^th birthday last August. Our connecting flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek was cancelled, as were our return flights, due to the ‘Rona, as our Southern belle friend calls it. We asked for a refund, as provided by EU law. Swiss Air declined. We brought a claim; hence the hearing. It was quite an experience, as was the building itself.

The courthouse (the title photo and above) was designed by Hermann Dernburg und Ernst Petersen and was based on a Romanesque imperial palace. It was built between 1901 and 1906. According to Wiki:

The Landgericht Berlin is a regional court in Berlin, divided into two divisions for civil and criminal cases. In the German court hierarchy, it is above the eleven local courts (Amtsgerichte) of the city and below the Kammergericht, which is the highest regional court of Berlin. The Landgericht Berlin is the largest Landgericht in Germany, with about 900 employees.

Following the 1920 Greater Berlin Act, Berlin had three Landgerichte, known as Landgericht Berlin I, II and III for the central, southern and northern districts of the city. These courts became one single Landgericht, the Landgericht Berlin, in July 1933.

Today, the chambers of the court are distributed over three sites in the city: civil cases [involving controversies exceeding €5.000] are heard in the building of the former Landgericht III on Tegeler Weg in Charlottenburg and also at the seat of the former Landgericht I on Littenstraße in Berlin-Mitte. All criminal cases are concentrated at the Criminal Court (Kriminalgericht) on Turmstraße in Moabit.

Here is a photo of the interior of the Littenstraße Landgericht (courtesy Ansgar Koreng CC BY-SA 3.0 (DE))

And here is a photo of the interior of the Kriminalgericht in Moabit.

I know! Cathedrals to justice.

Not only was the Landgericht Berlin unlike any courthouse I’d ever seen, but the entire experience was unlike any I’d ever had in an American courthouse. First of all, there were no concrete bollards or traffic diverters protecting the entrance from terrorist vehicles. Second, there were no metal detectors to pass through, nor did the receptionist ask to look into my purse. He simply and very courteously directed us to our courtroom on the first floor (which is the second floor for Americans).

We met our lawyer outside the courtroom for a pre-hearing chat (below). We had been advised to wear masks.

The layout and furnishings of the courtroom were remarkable in their unremarkability: It looked more like a classroom or seminar room than a courtroom. The judge’s bench was at the same height off the floor as the rest of the tables and chairs for the parties, lawyers, and witnesses. There was no looming physical hierarchy telegraphing who was in charge.

In attendance were the judge (above center), the court reporter (to his right), our interpreter (cut off at left, sorry!),

our attorney (above right), and the attorney representing Swiss Air (above left). The judge had opened the windows and said we could remove our masks to facilitate communication.

The hearing began. No one was sworn in. Everyone was cordial, introduced him- or herself, and smiled. The judge and attorneys wore black gowns that looked as if they came straight out of a graduation ceremony. No wigs, sadly. But most amazing of all, there was no attitude, no aggression. The atmosphere was relaxed and informal but efficient and orderly.

The judge asked if the parties wanted to settle; neither side did and so the hearing proceeded. The judge asked questions first of our lawyer, then of the defendant’s lawyer, and when he had established the facts, he read the proceedings into a hand-held device that registered them into a computer. The whole thing took less than an hour (as you can see from the clock in the photo below) and at the conclusion, the judge said he would render his decision before the end of the day.

Everyone thanked everyone else, gathered papers together and put on coats. I asked the judge if I could take some photos of the courtroom, and he agreed but said it was a shame because he had an appointment for a haircut tomorrow. We all laughed and eventually filed out. My husband and I wandered around inside the building for a few minutes, taking photos of the interior decor, including door and floor tile details, below.

The inscriptions read: strength, leniency, duty, law, truth.

Nobody rushed over to tell us photos were “verboten.” We felt like members of the public visiting a public building open to the public. No surly security guards. No anxious policemen. No non-scalable metal fences. No automatic weapons or handguns. It was déjà vu at the Landgericht Berlin, the way things used to be and just the way I like them.