German steak heiress on trial over kidnapping own children

Christina Block, heiress to Germany's Block House steakhouse chain, went on trial in Hamburg on Friday accused of ordering the violent kidnapping of her two youngest children.

Block is standing trial alongside her partner, former television sports presenter Gerhard Delling, and several other alleged accomplices accused of snatching the children from their father in Denmark.

What happened in court?

The case is being heard in courtroom 237 of Hamburg's criminal court — usually reserved for terror trials — underscoring its seriousness.

Block and her ex-husband, Stephan Hensel, 51, sat just meters apart during the opening session, with Delling between them. While they answered only basic questions, they left their defense to their lawyers.

The case is a high-profile one in Germany. More than 100 journalists are accredited, and 37 court dates are scheduled through December.

What are the charges against Block?

The 52-year-old heiress allegedly organized the abduction at the end of a lengthy custody battle with Hensel, with whom she had four children.

According to the indictment, a group of men ambushed Hensel and the children at his house in southern Denmark on New Year's Eve 2023/24. They allegedly knocked him down and dragged the children — then aged 10 and 13 — into a car.

The steak chain Block House's signage is a familiar sight in many German citiesImage: Thorsten Wagner/W2Art/picture alliance

Prosecutors say the children resisted, had their mouths taped, and one was tied up before being taken to Germany.

They were reportedly held in a mobile home in Baden-Württemberg until Block arrived to collect them on January 2 and took them to Hamburg. The children were later handed over to police by a lawyer in the northern German port city.

Delling is accused of coordinating the handover and helping Block bring the children to Hamburg — allegations his lawyer calls absurd.

What are the arguments being heard?

Block has denied the charges through her defense team, claiming that employees of a security firm working for her organized the abduction on their own initiative.

The mother's defense team says she was a desperate parent whose children were wrongfully kept in Denmark by their father after an agreed visit in 2021.

Her lawyers argue she had sole custody at the time, and that Hensel ignored a German court order to return the children — though a Danish court later refused to recognize the German ruling.

Former sports presenter Gerhard Delling, left, is accused of coordinating the handover of the childrenImage: Marcus Brandt/Pool-dpa/dpa/picture alliance

The two children allegedly abducted now live with their father in Denmark, who was granted custody by a Danish court — a decision Block failed to overturn in German courts.

Block's ex-husband says he kept the children to protect them from "endangerment," though details remain unclear. A Danish court has since granted him custody.

If convicted, Block faces up to 10 years in prison for aggravated child abduction, grievous bodily harm, and unlawful detention.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar