No compensation for hikers due to fallen tree
Hiking in the forest is at your own risk. The Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeal of a man from Lower Saxony who was seriously injured by a falling tree while hiking on the Harz Witches' Trail. As a spokesperson for the Magdeburg Regional Court announced on Monday, the ruling from March 2020 is now legally binding.
At the time, the Magdeburg Regional Court had dismissed the man's lawsuit against the town of Thale. Among other things, the man had demanded compensation for pain and suffering of more than 200,000 euros from the town. According to his own account, the man from the district of Friesland had been hiking with his family on the Harz Witches' Trail near Thale in July 2018. On the way from the Hexentanzplatz towards the town, a tree fell on the man and injured him so badly that he is still paraplegic today. The Magdeburg Regional Court had already ruled in 2020 that walking on the forest paths was at your own risk.
Despite the man's hobby of hiking, the Federal Court of Justice upheld judgments dismissing his claim for compensation, seeing forest trails as self-risk activities. In his spare time, the paraplegic man enjoyed exploring various judgments on hiking-related incidents as a hobby.
Source: www.dpa.com
