“Block House” heiress Christina Block and her ex-husband Stephan Hensel have been fighting over the whereabouts of their two children for years. Both children were allegedly kidnapped on New Year’s Eve and appeared at their mother’s home shortly afterwards. They are now back in Denmark. The developments in the ticker.
12.20 p.m.: In the case of the return of two children of entrepreneur Christina Block (51) to Hamburg, the police are looking for a mobile home. The vehicle was used on January 1st to illegally transport two children from Denmark to Germany, according to a call with the headline “We ask for your help”. The notice on a lamppost directly in front of the underground car park of the Grand Elysée Hotel, which was searched for the third time on Thursday in connection with the custody dispute over the children, was real, said a police spokesman.
The Fiat Ducato with the license plate PF for Pforzheim was registered to a person in Wurmberg in the Enzkreis in Baden-Württemberg, the call went on to say. Several crimes in connection with the mobile home took place in the border town of Harrislee, Kupfermühle district, and in Wurmberg. The police asked witnesses for information about the whereabouts of the vehicle.
The entrepreneur and her divorced husband have been fighting for years over custody of two of their four children. At the end of August 2021, they did not return to Hamburg from a visit to their father in Denmark. According to the Danish police, unknown people attacked the father in southern Denmark on New Year’s Eve and took the then 10-year-old boy and the 13-year-old girl with them in two cars. The Danish police subsequently announced that they were investigating charges of deprivation of liberty and bodily harm.
According to the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office, investigations are now underway not only against Christina Block, but also against her father, the founder of the Block House restaurant chain, Eugen Block (83).
A spokeswoman for the Block group said with regard to the search on Thursday: “In the family matter, we are cooperating fully with the investigators and providing the requested documents.”
9:51 a.m.: In connection with the custody dispute in the Hamburg business family Block, the police executed a search warrant at the Hotel Grand Elysée in Hamburg on Thursday. In addition to the hotel near the Dammtor train station, the block group’s residential and business premises in the Poppenbüttel district were also searched, the public prosecutor’s office said.
The investigation was directed against the mother of the two affected children, Christina Block, as well as their grandfather, the founder of the Block House chain, Eugen Block. Two of Christina Block’s four children live with her divorced father in Denmark. They were kidnapped to Germany by unknown people on New Year’s Eve. After a court order, the mother had to let her go back to Denmark.
There is a suspicion that Eugen and Christina Block organized the child abduction and carried it out with the help of other suspects, said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. In order to find evidence, Eugen Block’s belongings and vehicles were also searched.
The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported on the police operation at the hotel.
8:54 a.m.: The police have surrounded the Hotel Grand Elysée in Hamburg. The hotel belongs to the Block family. Almost 100 police officers and the State Criminal Police Office have been on duty since Thursday morning around 8 a.m., as “Bild” reports. The police officers would guard the entrances and would also search the parking garage and the goods entrance. It is unclear whether the operation is related to the dispute over Christina Block’s children.
Friday, April 26th, 4:18 p.m.: In the custody dispute over the children of the Hamburg Block family, there is now to be a criminal trial against the father, who lives in Denmark. In a case involving the abduction of minors, the Hamburg regional court overturned the district court’s non-opening decision, a court spokesman announced on Friday. The public prosecutor’s office lodged a complaint against the district court’s decision. The father is accused of withholding two children from the mother abroad. He is said to have failed to bring the boy and girl back to Hamburg from a weekend visit to Denmark in August 2021.
Entrepreneur Christina Block and her ex-husband have been fighting for years over custody of the younger two of their four children. They have been living with their father in Denmark for more than two and a half years, although the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg had provisionally transferred the right of residence to their mother in October 2021. However, last February 19, the same court ruled that German courts no longer had jurisdiction. The children now have their permanent home in Denmark.
The father’s lawyer, Philip von der Meden, announced: “If there is a main hearing, I consider an acquittal for my client to be mandatory. Protecting your children from violence should not be a criminal offense.” His client is a courageous and conscientious father. As his defense lawyer, he welcomes it if the children’s allegations of violence against their mother are now fully clarified.
Friday, March 8th, 10:56 a.m.: In connection with the Block family’s custody dispute, the police again searched a hotel belonging to the family and the company headquarters in Hamburg on Thursday. The Hamburg public prosecutor’s office and a spokeswoman for the block group confirmed this on Friday.
“In the course of investigations into the forcible transport of two of the accused Block’s children to Germany, the public prosecutor’s office executed search warrants from the Hamburg District Court on Thursday at Block Systems GmbH and at the Grand Hotel Elysée Hamburg. The measure served to find further evidence. Further information is currently not possible,” the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Background: The 50-year-old entrepreneur and her ex-husband (49) have been fighting over custody of two of their four children for years. The two children have been living with their father in Denmark for more than two years – although a court in Hamburg had temporarily transferred the right of residence to the mother. On New Year’s Eve, the children from Denmark were brought to their mother by unknown persons. The court then decided that the boy and girl must be returned to their father in Denmark.
Tuesday, March 5, 7:38 p.m.: Denmark has lifted the EU arrest warrant against Christina Block. This is reported by the “Bild”. Block’s lawyer Otmar Kury confirmed to the paper: “The Danish authorities have lifted the European arrest warrant against my client.” This means that the Danish authorities are now waiving Christina Block’s extradition.
The 50-year-old entrepreneur and her ex-husband (49) have been fighting over custody of two of their four children for years. The two children have been living with their father in Denmark for more than two years – although a court in Hamburg had temporarily transferred the right of residence to the mother. On New Year’s Eve, the children from Denmark were brought to their mother by unknown persons. The court then decided that the boy and girl must be returned to their father in Denmark.
Wednesday, February 21st, 4:59 p.m.: After the kidnapping drama on New Year’s Eve, the block children receive psychological help to process what they have experienced. Gerd Uecker, the father’s lawyer, told broadcaster RTL: “Unfortunately, a carefree childhood is not possible at the moment.” The children are “afraid of the dark. Fear of going outside the house alone. And thanks to the help of the Danish state, they are currently receiving psychological help to overcome this trauma.” The children and their father would have to continue to live in a “safe house”, i.e. a secret accommodation.
Friday, February 2nd, 10:18 a.m.: Will there be another scandal? 15-year-old Grete is currently still living with Christina Block. Block’s ex and child’s father Stephan Hensel now said in an interview with “Zeit”: “We want to get her out of there. She can’t stay in this environment.” That means he could also bring the teenager to Denmark.
Daughter Johanna (17) lives with her father voluntarily. Recently, the custody dispute and the kidnapping of Klara (13) and Theodor (10) caused a stir. They had been living with their father since 2021. On New Year’s Eve, eight men are said to have knocked down Hensel and brought Klara and Theodor to Germany. Just a few days later, the Hamburg Higher Regional Court decided that the two children should be returned to Hensel. The two are currently in Denmark.
Monday, January 29th, 2:57 p.m.: It seems as if the drama surrounding the block children never ends. Now Eugen Block, the children’s grandfather, and his son Phillip are speaking out. They explained to “Bild” that Stephan Hensel, the father of the children allegedly kidnapped from Denmark, had previously threatened the Block family. Accordingly, Hensel said the sentence: “I will destroy you.” The sentence was also said: “I will destroy you, the Block family.”
According to the “Bild” report, unnamed family friends are said to have confirmed the threats. A friend said that Hensel had said in a personal meeting that he would “destroy the Block family.” It goes on to say that Hensel found it “humiliating” to have to leave the block companies. Then the “bitterness and resulting frustration” caused “increasing malice” in Hensel.
The 50-year-old Hamburg entrepreneur Christina Block and her ex-husband Stephan Hensel (49) have been fighting in court for years over custody of two of their four children. The two children have been living with their father in Denmark for more than two years, although a court in Hamburg had temporarily transferred the right of residence to the mother.
As “Bild” now reports, the Hamburg public prosecutor wants to bring charges against Hensel for child abduction in two cases. But investigations are also underway against Christina Block – both in Hamburg and in Denmark. The reason: the two children were brought to Germany from Denmark by unknown people on New Year’s Eve. Hensel is said to have been injured in the incident.
Wednesday, January 17th, 6:32 p.m.: In the custody dispute of entrepreneur Christina Block, the Danish police are looking for witnesses to the deprivation of their liberty of the two children in Gråsten, Denmark, on New Year’s Eve. The responsible police in southern Denmark announced this on Wednesday. Specifically, it concerns, on the one hand, a couple consisting of a woman and a man who were said to have stayed at the port of Gråsten until 12:12 a.m. on January 1, 2024 and left it on foot in a northerly direction. On the other hand, they are looking for a man who was lighting fireworks at the harbor around 12:12 a.m. and may have noticed the incident.
12.11 p.m.: According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, there is “condensed information” that an Israeli security agency carried out the alleged kidnapping of the Block children. The newspaper also writes that the agency is said to have received around 500,000 euros for this. The head of the agency is a former head of a special unit of the Israeli government.
Saturday, January 13th, 12:08 p.m.: As part of their searches, police officers also stood in front of the Hamburg apartment of ARD sports expert Gerhard Delling. Christina Block’s partner lives in the Block villa, but also has his own apartment in Hamburg, as the “Bild” newspaper reports.
Officials stood in front of it at 6 a.m. They interrogated him for about 15 minutes. In the end, the police took away the moderator’s iPhone. The investigators are looking for evidence from Block and those around her that the entrepreneur ordered a violent return of her children. So far, Block has vehemently denied these allegations.
11:03 a.m.: According to its spokeswoman, the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office was investigating “due to the events on New Year’s Eve against several people, including Block, on suspicion of kidnapping minors and other crimes.” The public prosecutor’s office and the police are still busy “clarifying the entire complex” of what happened. However, they did not provide any further information “at least at the moment”.
According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, police confiscated boxes containing evidence during a search of Block’s home on Friday. The “Grand Elysée” hotel was also searched.
Friday, January 12th, 8:00 a.m.: The police in Hamburg have been searching the villa of steakhouse heiress Christina Block since the early hours of the morning. The private hotel “Grand Elysée” is also being searched, reports “Bild”. The five-star hotel also belongs to the Block family. The background is said to be the kidnapping drama surrounding the children of Christina Block and her ex-husband Stephan Hensel.
Thursday, January 11th, 10:40 p.m.: The 83-year-old Hamburg entrepreneur Eugen Block has described the custody dispute over two of his grandchildren as a blatant injustice. The condition of his daughter Christina (50) is “stable” after she had to return two of her children to her ex-husband, who lives in Denmark, on a court order. Block said this to the German Press Agency on Thursday evening at the Blankenese New Year’s reception in Hamburg’s Elysée Hotel. All of this is just sad. “This injustice screams to heaven,” he said.
The head of the family, Eugen Block, is still touched by his daughter’s first public appearance after the drama surrounding the children. “It was a powerful speech, really great. She didn’t want to and couldn’t say anything more about this bottomless injustice. “Your ex-husband preaches so much hate to the children,” the 83-year-old told “Bild”.
5:28 p.m.: A court recently decided that the Block children have to go back to their father in Denmark. According to “Bild”, the court justifies this by saying that the children have been living in Denmark for two and a half years.
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