[deepbluev7]

Again, I would suggest you stop picking particular examples without context. The case where a politician was called "willie"/"Pimmel" was a senator overreaching and as a result the police dropped the case: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/hausdurchsuchung-pimmelg...

Of course it was still a scandal, but it is not like anyone had to pay a fine over it or went to prison.

Yes, there are limits to free speech in Germany, when it encroaches on other people's freedom of speech. But that doesn't mean there is no free speech and the examples you pick are mostly cases where someone tried to use those rules against free speech and failed. So they actually show the opposite, you can't just sue someone for their opinion. Only if their opinion encroaches on other people's freedom. I don't think I am the one doing mental gymnastics here. Yes, insults generally don't fall under free speech in Germany and neither does inciting violence, but I simply don't see that as a problem, since you can express opinions also without including direct insults. So from my perspective I can only see you arguing, that insulting other people should be protected by free speech, which we can disagree on, but is a very small aspect of free speech from my perspective and imo even one that harms free speech in the long run.

Here is another example, where the police overreached and was called back: https://netzpolitik.org/2025/kunstfreiheit-berliner-polizei-.... But I don't think the police ignoring the law is a problem with the law, it is a problem with the police.