Vehement school opponents from Hesse have suffered a defeat at the European Court of Human Rights. The Strasbourg judges do not see the rights of the Christian family being injured by the short-term placement of their children in the home, as a verdict published on Thursday (Complaint No: 18925/15).

The couple from nearby Darmstadt had religiously refused to send their four children to school. The authorities subsequently took the children to the shelter for three weeks in 2013 to enforce compulsory education. The parents see this as a violation of their human right to family life.

Reasons are "relevant and sufficient"

The Strasbourg judges now held that the partial custodial withdrawal had indeed interfered with this right. The reasons for it are however "relevant and sufficient".

Thus, the German authorities had reason to believe that the children were in danger, were isolated and had no contact with people outside the family. The parents had prevented less stringent measures due to a lack of cooperation with the authorities.

After the children's home stay, the family was reunited - but the Wunderlichs fought in several courts to teach children at home. The strictly religious family considers compulsory education a "restriction of freedom".

The pickup of the police described Wunderlich at the beginning of the process in Strasbourg as "scary". The front door was opened with a battering ram, the apartment "stormed", the parents pushed aside and the children were "dragged away".

Action already rejected in 2006

Teaching at home is not allowed in Germany, as long as the school-age children are no longer ill. Parents who deny their children school attendance also face imprisonment.

Already in 2006, the European Court of Human Rights decided in another case from Germany: There is no right to home tuition. The Strasbourg judges agreed with the reasoning of the Federal Constitutional Court as justification. In addition, parents could educate their children after school according to their religious beliefs.

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At home to school: a life without classmates

There are no uniform rules on homeschooling in Europe, the Human Rights Court said. Family Wunderlich from Hesse wanted to emigrate to France, another couple brought his children to an Austrian village. Switzerland also leaves more room here.