The block family drama between Hamburg and Denmark

It's understandable that the Block-Hensels don't want to talk to anyone anymore - it's pretty much the worst and most unpleasant thing that can happen to a family: A custody dispute that goes as far as an alleged child abduction. A chronology.

Couples with four children should assume that they are very much in love, that having four children together is "no slip-up". So with the Block-Hensels, we should assume that it was love. But what is left of it? Neither friendship nor respect, not even reason, just a custody dispute between steakhouse entrepreneur Christina Block and her ex-husband Stephan Hensel. Both are 49 years old and have been fighting over their children for around nine years, the youngest having just been born.

And now the suspected kidnapping: on New Year's Eve, several strangers dragged two of their children, 13-year-old Klara and ten-year-old Theodor, who only knows his parents because they are fighting over custody, out of Denmark and into two cars. What a shock that must be for the children. Even if they were to be taken "home" to their mother. The exact circumstances are still unclear, the police in Denmark and Germany are investigating.

According to the "Bild" newspaper, the Hamburg police are currently trying to contact the mother after she said yesterday that the children were with her. Nobody outside the four walls of the Hamburg Blocks knows how the children are doing at the moment.

The beginning

If you take a look back, you could say that Christina and Stephan had a classic dream relationship at the beginning: Block and Hensel met in 1999, and while it is not said to have been love at first sight, it was "one that grew slowly", according to Block in an earlier interview. At the time, she was working in the family business "Block House", Hensel at a private bank. He then joined Block's company quite quickly, according to the "Bild" newspaper.

After getting engaged in 2004 and getting married in 2005, the couple had their first child a year later, followed by three more. During this time, the couple are said to have become estranged: She made a career in her father's company, he stumbled, his father-in-law kicked him out, Hensel went into business for himself, albeit without much success.

They separated in 2014 and the war of the roses over divorce began - there was a prenuptial agreement - money and custody of the children. Hensel blames his father-in-law for the breakdown of his marriage.

Unprecedented back and forth

So far, as normal as it can be when parents separate. There are supposed to be a few years of peace. But then Christina Block falls in love, and in July 2021 her relationship with former sports commentator Gerhard Delling becomes public. Stephan Hensel also has a new relationship, he has moved to Denmark.

This is followed by an unprecedented tug-of-war over the children: in August 2021, the father keeps Theodor and Klara with him after a regular visit instead of bringing them back to Hamburg. Johanna, the eldest, also stays in Denmark, allegedly at her request. It is now said that Christina Block beats the children, but she rejects this accusation. Hensel does not allow Block to visit her children. Christina Block sues the local court to have the younger children returned - and is rejected.

The higher regional court decides differently again in October 2021, because it does not believe Hensel's allegations of violence and the children should be returned to their mother. Although Block and Hensel have joint custody, only Christina Block has the so-called right of residence. Naturally, the children's thoughts on the back and forth are not made public.

Hensel refuses to hand over the children. He receives backing from the Danish authorities, who do not want to enforce the judgment from Germany. In November 2022, Hensel spoke of an "attempted abduction" of his wife. However, she had only "wanted to be protected by a security service against her sometimes aggressive ex-husband". Hensel also requested personal protection and fitted his children with alarms.

"We're waiting for you!"

Christina Block with her parents at a hotel event in 2020.

In January 2023, touching pictures go around the world: Eugen and Christa Block, the grandparents, set off for Denmark to make contact with their grandchildren. Their car is parked opposite Hensel's house, a large sign reads: "We miss you. We love you. We are thinking of you. We are waiting for you. Our doors are always open. Grandma and Grandpa." However, Hensel pulls down the blinds and the action continues without grandchildren and grandparents seeing each other. Hensel also reports his ex-father-in-law to the police because he feels threatened.

In February 2023, a new court date in Denmark, Block is allowed to see her children every two weeks under supervision. She said at the time that she would go all the way to the European Court of Justice "if necessary" to get her children back. In July 2023, grandmother Christa Block dies without having met her grandchildren again.

In October 2023, Christina Block tells the Bild newspaper that she still has no contact with her children, even though she has a contact order. Preliminary "climax" of the drama: the alleged abduction of the two children from Denmark.