Germany’s highest administrative court has confirmed a disciplinary penalty against intelligence professor Martin Wagener over his book on national identity, saying the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) acted lawfully when it cut his pay by ten per cent for two years.
Wagener’s book, Kulturkampf um das Volk (Culture War Over the People), discusses Germany’s national identity and criticises official approaches to multiculturalism. The BND accused him of insulting citizens with immigrant backgrounds and breaking the duty of moderation required of public officials.
The court agreed that one passage went too far, where Wagener wrote that footballers Mesut Özil, Ilkay Gündoğan, and Emre Can were “Turks with German passports” who played for Germany for career reasons but “would remain Turks at heart.” Judges said this wording could damage trust in him as a teacher at a federal institution.
However, they also ruled that Wagener’s wider discussion of national identity did not break constitutional rules, describing it as a social-scientific view.
Wagener, who has taught at the BND’s training academy since 2012, remains suspended after the agency withdrew his security clearance in 2022.
The case has sparked debate over freedom of speech, with europeanconservative.com commentator Sabine Beppler-Spahl warning in a recent article that “a democratic society cannot—and should not—be prohibited from discussing cultural identity and national belonging.”
In any case, Wagener’s remarks about the footballers of Turkish origin do reflect reality, and that his questions about identity are legitimate.
Mesut Özil recently joined Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling AKP party, years after quitting Germany’s national team in protest. Back in 2018, German politicians and football officials criticised both Özil and Gündoğan for posing with Erdoğan, questioning their loyalty to Germany’s democratic values.
This shows that Wagener raised legitimate questions about identity.
