Constantine Schreiber
University condemns “physical assault” after cake incident
Constantin Schreiber, here during a recording of the TV show “Riverboat”, read from his book “Glück im Unglück” at the University of Jena.
© imago images/STAR MEDIA
“Tagesschau” spokesman Constantin Schreiber was attacked in Jena with a cake. The local university condemned the incident.
A reading by the “Tagesschau” spokesman and author Constantin Schreiber (44) at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena was disturbed by several people. During the event, Schreiber was also given a cake in the face by a man. Today, August 31, the university took a stand.
The university is “a place of free discourse,” according to a statement. The presidium of the university supports “the open, social exchange on controversial topics and speaks out against physical attacks”. With such an action, “only attention is generated, but neither arguments are exchanged nor common solutions developed”.
What happened?
At a reading of Schreiber’s book “Glück im Unglück – How I remain optimistic despite bad news” in lecture hall 1, according to the university, there was a “protest from a small group”. They accused the author and “Tagesschau” spokesman of “being racist and Islamophobic”. Schreiber was then “by an unknown person from the audience with a cake was attacked”. The disrupters were “not interested in a dialogue”.
previously had including the “Ostthüringer Zeitung” reported about the incident. According to several media reports, the event was able to continue after an interruption.
In the past there has been criticism of, among other things, Schreiber’s novel “The Candidate”, which is about a Muslim chancellor candidate. The journalist Stefan Buchen described the book in the “taz” in the summer of 2021, for example, as a “political hate pamphlet that stirs up fear of migrants”.