German authorities have launched an investigation against a local pensioner in the town of Heilbronn for calling Chancellor Friedrich Merz ‘Pinocchio’ on social media.
As reported by Heilbronner Stimme, the man saw a post on the Facebook page of the local police in October 2025, informing viewers that Merz, as well as Winfried Kretschmann, State prime minister of Baden-Württemberg, would attend an event in Heilbronn.
The man commented on the post: ‘Pinocchio is coming to HN [Heilbronn],’ followed by the iconic long-nosed emoji, referring to the hero of the Italian children’s fantasy novel written by Carlo Collodi.
The pensioner received a letter in January 2026 from the criminal police informing him that he is being investigated under Article 188 of the German Criminal Code. The clause criminalizes insults and defamation of politicians ‘if the offence is likely to make their public work considerably more difficult’. Violations may be punished with up to five years in prison.
According to Heilbronner Stimme, the police office’s social media team came across the comment during a routine scan of the agency’s social media channels and initiated the proceedings. In his reply to the police, the pensioner wrote that his comment was ‘an ambiguous, symbolic, and satirical expression of opinion in a political context’ and should be covered by constitutional freedom of expression.
‘Violations may be punished with up to five years in prison’
The clause became widely known—more accurately, infamous—back in May 2025, when a pensioner had his house raided after posting a meme stating that former Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck is a moron.
That German law is also one of the main symbols of the ideological confrontation between the Trump administration and Western European governments over free speech. US billionaire Elon Musk criticized the German government—both the former socialist-liberal one and the current CDU–SPD coalition—for restricting online free speech while trying to silence the largest opposition party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). US Vice President JD Vance also criticized Germany during his speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2025 for the same reasons.
Merz, however, must be used to being called ‘Pinocchio’ during his political career, as the current incident is far from the first time that happened. In March 2025, AfD MP Stephan Brandner called the chancellor ‘Pinocchio-Fritze’ after Merz decided to lift the German debt ceiling, which he had previously vowed to defend—just one of the many campaign promises he failed to keep.
In July 2025, Green Party co-leader Franziska Brantner accused Merz of turning into a ‘Pinocchio chancellor’ for failing to lift electricity taxes for households as previously promised.
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