The burial of a right-wing extremist in the grave of the Jewish musicologist Max Friedlaender (1852-1934) in the Protestant south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf causes outrage.

The Berlin anti-Semitism commissioner Samuel Salzborn reported criminal charges on suspicion of disturbing the peace of the dead, disparaging the memory of the deceased and inciting the people, the Senate Department for Justice announced on Tuesday in Berlin.

According to the regional church, the Protestant bishop Christian Stäblein interrupted his vacation and visited the grave site on Tuesday.

According to eyewitnesses, the wreaths and flowers for the late Holocaust denier Henry Hafenmayer have since been cleared away.

"I am shocked and stunned by what happened," said the bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia.

He will do everything possible to come to terms with this desecration.

Stäblein assured that he would examine all legal steps that can reverse the process.

In any case, he will see to it that “we keep an honorable memory for Max Friedlaender in this cemetery”.

The south-west cemetery, opened in 1909, belongs to the Protestant regional church.

Henry Hafenmayer, from North Rhine-Westphalia, was buried there last Friday.

Numerous right-wing extremists took part in the funeral service, including the anti-Semite Horst Mahler, who had been imprisoned for a long time for sedition.

"The intention here is obvious that right-wing extremists have deliberately chosen a Jewish grave in order to disturb the peace of the dead by burying a Holocaust denier," explained Salzborn.

The “entire cemetery setting with convicted Holocaust deniers at the burial” requires a criminal investigation.

Salzborn emphasized that he was "in a constructive exchange" with the Protestant regional church about the consequences of the incident.

It must be checked whether and, if so, how quickly the Holocaust denier can be reburied.

Should right-wing extremists no longer be buried in church cemeteries?

The anti-Semitism commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Christian Staffa, said that it is now a matter of removing the urn from the grave and embedding it, canceling the lease agreement and developing criteria for the future of who will be buried in church cemeteries may be.

"Nazis and Holocaust deniers should be excluded from this if they have not signaled repentance before they die," said Staffa.

The more than 200 hectare south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf is Germany's largest Protestant cemetery.

It is located in Brandenburg, but belongs to Berlin under canon law.

The head of the Brandenburg anti-Semitism department, Peter Schüler, warned that Max Friedlaender's grave must on no account become a place of pilgrimage for anti-Semites.

According to the regional church, the decision not to refuse the request for a grave was made in the church administration in the consistory.

"The guiding principle is that everyone has the right to a final resting place," said a church spokeswoman.

The first request for another grave site was rejected by the cemetery management.