The validity and scope of the principle of state neutrality for a municipal library was the subject of a recent decision by the Administrative Court (VG) of Münster (case no. 1 L 59/25, decision of 11 April 2025). The municipal library had labelled two books intended for lending with critical notes: In the case of one work, it warns against the controversial content. In the case of the other book, the content was „possibly not compatible with the principles of a democratic society“. One of the authors demanded that such notices be removed and refrained from in future.  

The Münster Administrative Court has now ruled that the author's fundamental rights were not violated. This is because such comments are covered by the educational mandate of public libraries and do not violate the state's principle of neutrality if the comments are factual and based on true facts. According to this, public libraries are generally allowed to make judgemental statements about works - both positive and negative. In particular, those who deny historical facts must be able to withstand objective criticism.

„The decision joins a large number of judgements on the principle of neutrality and shows that there is no single principle of neutrality. A distinction must be made in each individual case according to the state body making the statement, the content, reference point and context of the statement,“ says Rechtsanwalt Tobias Schröter.