Thuringian Minister präsident Mario Voigt (CDU) has announced that he will take the university that stripped him of his doctorate to court. The Thuringian State Chancellery confirmed on Wednesday that Voigt intends to file a complaint with the Administrative Court because he finds the university’s decision “incomprehensible”.
Voigt cites an external assessment commissioned by the university itself and released in February 2025, which concludes that his dissertation is an independent scientific achievement and that none of the conditions for revocation are met. He accuses the university of subsequently introducing new evaluation standards after that report and of applying those standards selectively to his work. The disputed sections constitute 2.58 % of the words in the thesis submitted almost twenty years ago.
The law firm Raue, hired by Voigt, has criticised the university in a statement, alleging procedural errors such as a change of the evaluation rules during the ongoing proceedings and the failure to hear Voigt or the original reviewers. Regardless of the legal battle, Voigt says he will continue to focus on his duties as head of government.
