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Students of the State Ballet School Berlin
Photo: picture alliance / Christophe Gateau / dpa
The allegations ranged from the exertion of psychological pressure to personal bullying: Last year, students from the State Ballet School in Berlin turned to the public for the first time to draw attention to the situation at the elite institution.
Several of those affected and their parents also spoke to SPIEGEL.
They reported, among other things, how anorexic schoolgirls were praised for their health-threatening weight, while the others said: "You are all fat!"
Schoolchildren reported hierarchical structures and abuse of power, both of which should have determined the everyday life of boys and girls.
One victim said she was called a "slut" and a "bitch" during training.
A former acrobatics student reported that fifth and sixth graders were stretched so hard to increase their mobility that they left class crying.
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The scandal had personnel consequences: The then head of the school, Ralf Stabel, was first released - and was finally dismissed without notice.
But this is ineffective, decided the state labor court Berlin-Brandenburg.
According to the judgment, Stabel is "still to be employed as the headmaster of the Berlin State Ballet School and School for Artistry".
(File number: 21 Sa 1374/20)
Not adequately justified
The dismissal was not adequately justified, the allegations against Stabel were "hardly tangible," it says in the statement of the court.
In addition, the letter was submitted too late - more than two weeks after the incident became known.
The former head of the school was therefore "entitled to continued employment in the previous position."
However, it remains to be seen whether this will actually happen.
We are currently in talks with Ralf Stabel, said a spokesman for the Berlin Senate Administration to SPIEGEL.
The Senate cannot currently say more about the cause, as no final decision has yet been made.
In the past there had already been speculation that Stabel could be transferred to circumvent the problem - and accept a position as a speaker at the Senate instead of the school management.
Hardly anyone at the ballet school would be happy if the former director returned. Several people entrusted with the case confirmed this to SPIEGEL. The ballet school is currently run for one year on a substitute basis. There had been "great progress" during this time, among other things a child protection concept had been developed, said the Senate spokesman. The head of the school is to be filled again in August.