Gerhard Schröder: Former Chancellor in the Bundestag robbed – works of art gone

Exclusive

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has apparently fallen victim to brazen art thieves. According to research by star three works of art were stolen from the corridor in front of the Bundestag offices of the former chancellor. As confirmed by the police in the Bundestag, Schröder already filed a complaint against unknown persons on Monday. The public prosecutor’s office in Berlin has started the investigation.

The incident is another blow to the former Chancellor. According to some observers, Schröder, who is already subject to increasingly harsh criticism of his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is in danger of becoming fair game. Despite all the justified criticism of Schröder, the question arises as to whether the border to a kind of hunt for the former chancellor has now been crossed.

For fear of hostility

Apparently, the reenactments have now also reached the previously protected area of ​​Schröder’s offices in the Bundestag – and his closest circle of employees, who, according to our research, now regularly lock themselves in the office for fear of hostilities. The extent of public malice hurts the SPD man far more than the material loss, as can be learned from his environment. Does the rule of law still apply to Gerhard Schröder? He probably wants to clarify the question with the demonstrative display of the theft of the works of art.

The missing works are two wooden printing blocks by the painter and graphic artist Uwe Bremer and a graphic by an unnamed Chinese artist. According to the ad, the works of art from the private possession of the former chancellor disappeared between last Friday evening and Monday morning.

They have been hanging in the publicly accessible area in front of his offices in Berlin’s Otto-Wels-Haus for 16 years. According to the Bundestag administration, no information was given about the value of the missing items. Other works that were still on the walls of the corridor have now been taken down as a precaution and kept in Schröder’s office.

The theft is not the first incident in the vicinity of the former chancellor’s offices. Employees recently complained about a persistently stressful work situation. Tabloid reporters entered the offices several times unannounced, asked questions and filmed, and an office name tag was stolen. Even the shared tea kitchen is no longer a safe place. Employees’ food was repeatedly bitten off and signs removed.

A young SPD MP whose offices are in the immediate vicinity also appears to be among the bullies. Martin Diedenhofer is new in the Bundestag and Schröder apparently has a deep dislike. The member of parliament from Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate recently tweeted a photo from the shared tea kitchen, along with the request: Schröder shouldn’t forget the old microwave when packing for moving out.

Four more employees work for Gerhard Schröder

In the past week, the budget committee of the Bundestag had “rested” Schröder’s offices at the request of the traffic light parliamentary groups. According to the decision, Schröder is to lose his staff of up to six employees and seven offices because he no longer has any “ongoing obligations” from his previous position. Most recently, four employees worked for Schröder.

For months, the former SPD leader has faced severe criticism for his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his work for Russian energy companies. The Gazprom group, for which Schröder has been working since 2005, confirmed on Tuesday that it would nominate Schröder for the supervisory board. He immediately rejected the offer. Schröder also gave up his position on the supervisory board of the Russian energy group Rosneft, for which he had worked since 2017, last week. It was impossible for him to extend his mandate on the body, he said. This withdrawal has so far been of little use to him – as these unprecedented events in the German Bundestag prove.