In the dispute over an alleged secret account of the former Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss the Cologne district court wants to hear more witnesses. According to a spokeswoman, the civil division dealing with the dispute has scheduled a new hearing for the 15th of May.
The oldest Strauss son Max complains in the lawsuit against the book author and former tax official Wilhelm Schlötterer. This alleged that the former CSU boss had left his children at his death in 1988, a foreign account with about 360 million German marks (about 180 million euros). Max Strauss denies that - he put his paternal inheritance at less than six million marks.
Test report of the former DG-Bank should prove assets
Several courts had already prohibited Schlötterer from repeating the above statements. Almost ten years ago, the author published a book entitled "Power and Abuse - Franz Josef Strauss and his Successors".
In the current process, the district court of Cologne must examine new evidence that Schlötterer has submitted in support of his thesis. The focus is on an alleged test report of the former DG-Bank, whose authenticity is controversial.
According to the court spokesman, witnesses will now be heard among other things to the question whether Max Strauss at the time said to someone on the phone that more than 300 million D-marks were at the Bavarian Landesbank and the legacy of his father.