Now the people of Frankfurt have it in black and white and officially.
Their mayor, who they elected twice, has been found guilty by a court of accepting benefits, commonly known as corruption.
It is a harsh but just punishment that the Economic Criminal Court at the Frankfurt Regional Court sentenced Peter Feldmann to.
Even if the judges did not meet the public prosecutor's demand with the fine of 21,000 euros, the SPD politician will have a criminal record as soon as the verdict becomes final.
Judges saw 'wrongful agreement'
The happily tightly conducted process gave a glimpse into the abyss of a system that was as corrupt as it was sophisticated, which was described with the nice legal term of the “wrongful agreement”.
A senior employee of the Frankfurt workers' welfare organization who was well known to Feldmann "fed" the mayor over the years.
With financial benefits such as donations for his re-election in order to win him over as an “intercessor” in Romans, as the judges put it.
In this affair, which caused serious damage to Frankfurt's reputation beyond the city limits, the citizens were already able to pass judgment on Feldmann before the judiciary.
The fact that the politician, who was unrepentant until the end of the process, was voted out with a clear majority was a victory for democracy before the evidence could be provided in a constitutional state.