The Federal Ministry of Health’s online portal „gesund.bund.de“ may remain online. This is the conclusion of a ruling by the Cologne Administrative Court (Ref.: 6 K 1256/24 of 13 October 2026).

A publishing house, which, amongst other things, operates the online health portal „apotheken-umschau.de“, had brought a legal action against the portal offering free health information. It regarded the Ministry of Health’s service as direct competition to its own product. However, this allegedly contravenes the principle that the press must remain independent of the state.

The Administrative Court has now dismissed the claim on the grounds that the publisher lacks the standing required in administrative court proceedings. It has not suffered any infringement of its subjective public rights. These rights cannot be derived from the principle of media independence from the state. This principle prohibits the state from intervening in the media sector, so that the process of forming public opinion is protected from state influence.

The court did not rule on the substance of the matter – namely, whether the federal government’s website contravenes this principle – but merely held that the publishing house, as the holder of the subjective right to freedom of the press, cannot invoke this right before the Administrative Court.

An appeal against the judgement has been allowed.