We have already reported on the awarding of the “Aachen Prize for Humanity” to physician Heinrich Habig, recently released from scandalous and unjust imprisonment, on May 14, 2026, Ascension Day. Below, we present my transcript of his acceptance speech, which he delivered after several laudatory remarks. We highly recommend reading it in its entirety, as it perfectly expresses the profound humanity of this extraordinary man and physician, which distinguishes him from his accusers and judges. (hl)
I will preface my remarks with important sentences from the “Geneva Doctors’ Declaration,” which Heinrich Habig and the other doctors who issued mask exemption certificates and vaccination or exemption certificates and were subsequently prosecuted have always referred to:
Key statements from the ‘Geneva Doctors’ Declaration’:
“As a member of the medical profession, I solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the service of humanity.
The health and well-being of my patients will be my highest priority.”I will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patients and maintain the highest respect for human life.
Even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties.
Following the laudatory speeches and five messages of greeting from other criminalized critical, courageous and humane doctors, Dr. Ansgar Klein presented the “Aachen Award for Humanity” to Heinrich Habig.
Award ceremony
Dr. Ansgar Klein:
“And now we come to the highlight of today’s event, dear Heinrich… (he comes forward from the audience, Dr. Klein holds up the coin):
Aachen Award for Humanity 2026.
This is the outward sign of this non-monetary award.
On the reverse side is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Berta von Suttner with her motto:
‘Lay down your weapons!’
Today we translate that as: Down with pharmaceutical weapons!
Congratulations!
(Dr. Ansgar Klein shakes Heinrich Habig’s hand warmly for a long time.)
Heinrich Habig: Thank you!
Dr. Ansgar Klein: Heinrich, the floor is yours. 1
Acceptance speech by Heinrich Habig
“So you see, when you’re in prison, you have a good relationship with the Lord God, who opened heaven at the right time. – Thank you.”
Dear audience, dear friends, I am deeply moved and touched to receive the Humanitarian Award in 2026, following in the footsteps of such renowned figures as Eugen Drewermann, Daniele Ganser, and Patrick Baab. I thank the association “Aacheners for a Humane Future” for their decision and invitation. I also thank Claudia and the other speakers for their tributes.
First and foremost, I have some good news for everyone who has so lovingly supported me over the past few years and stood by my wife throughout. I was released from prison in Castrop-Rauxel yesterday. So today is my first day of freedom.
– If you keep clapping like this, I’ll never get anything done. –
Your solidarity and dedication have made this possible.
I gladly accept this award on behalf of all persecuted and imprisoned doctors who have so naturally upheld the Hippocratic Oath and the Declaration of Geneva for their patients.
I also dedicate this award to my wife Fatima, who fought so tirelessly for me and waited for me all this time, which is truly remarkable.
Thank you, my love, you are an angel.
Not forgetting the countless helpers, like the Bochum Querdenker (lateral thinkers) who drummed and demonstrated in Bochum in front of the Bochum-Krümmede prison, as well as the packed courtroom audience and the “Wir für Heinrich” (We for Heinrich) group, the rap band “Rebellion” with their charismatic songwriter Göte, who wrote and released a song for me.
Then there are the people who donated so diligently via the White Crane charity to make the legal proceedings possible.
And I’d also like to mention Claudia, who worked so tirelessly and fiercely, handling all the PR and doing so much more.
Then I must also thank Gabi and Siegbert for everything: their visits to Bielefeld prison, their shuttle service from Bielefeld to home and back again on time, and the culinary magic they constantly provided, especially to distract me from the dreary prison food. They also took us to a healer in Hamburg who was very helpful to me. Thanks also to this healer, who prefers to remain anonymous. Siegbert also lovingly treated me with physiotherapy from time to time. A heartfelt thank you to both of you as well.
Yes, it just keeps coming. There are so many thank yous I have to say.
Another thank you goes to the famous street musician Arne Schmitt. Arne visited me in prison and was always there for me with advice and support. He did everything imaginable, too much to list individually. He also put me in touch with the lawyer Katja, who did everything she could and believed that I would be released at the two-thirds mark.
Thank you too, Katja.
Thanks also to Boris Reitschuster, who, incidentally, was put in touch with Arne Schmitt. Through his online presence and followers, he showered me with a veritable flood of letters, postcards, books, and other gifts. His reach is global. I received mail from all over Europe, America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and even from the Seychelles. I was invited there. Apparently, it’s very beautiful.
Yes, the people who wrote to me came from all walks of life: doctors, lawyers, police officers, state criminal police officers, judges, retired judges, alternative practitioners, nurses, and midwives—they all stood behind me, let me know, offered comfort, and urged me to persevere. And almost all of them wrote at the end of their letters: “There are many of us.” And I believe that, too.
A special event was organized for me by Doro Bochum, an activist who sadly passed away this year, together with Dr. Gerburg Weiß, who is here today and who gave up her dental practice. Dr. Weiß has already written several books about persecuted doctors.
Then there’s the dedicated member of parliament, also a dentist – yes, there must be something to the appeal of female dentists – Dr. Christina Baum, who wrote to me during my time in pretrial detention and, among other things, organized a panel discussion for me near her constituency. She also chaired the parliamentary inquiry commission where Claudia gave a presentation that garnered her much support.
The television station Auf1 filmed a program at our home and released a CD and a book featuring all the persecuted doctors, and it’s well worth watching, and I believe it’s currently out of print again.
A heartfelt thank you to Peter and Heike, who are both here as well, for organizing so many celebrations with friends and acquaintances and for already naming a square after me.
Thanks also to Arthur Helios, who had T-shirts and umbrellas printed with the inscription “Freedom for Heinrich.”
And to everyone I haven’t mentioned yet, I also consider them part of the group, like Heiko, Norbert, Jochen, Daria, and so on. And to the doctors and psychotherapists who treated me during the time I was out for my rehabilitation.
Finally, I’d like to say something about my fellow inmates. In all the prisons where I was incarcerated, everyone behaved impeccably and respectfully. And what I found remarkable was the extraordinary willingness to help among all the prisoners. There are also many prison officers with excellent personal qualities.
I would like to dedicate this award to all these unique and wonderful people.
This award is about humanity, and in everything I’ve experienced over the past four years, I’ve felt that humanity. People are good, helpful, friendly, cooperative, and trusting. That’s how peace and freedom are created. When we were still hunter-gatherers, it was natural for us to share everything because there were no differences between people. There were no wars, no diseases, no epidemics, no floods or famines because people were on the move. Everything was in balance.
Speaking of balance – from a medical perspective, restoring biological equilibrium is a fundamental prerequisite for regaining full health through one’s own efforts. Our bodies are naturally perfect. God has forgotten nothing.
Restoring the acid-base balance, renaturalizing the intestinal environment, and eliminating toxins and symbiotic bacteria have always been my primary tasks in my practice, helping my patients regain their former self-regulation. However, the most crucial aspect is the human psyche. Without mental health, physical health is virtually impossible. With love, care, and ample time, I establish the necessary compliance to explore and treat the deepest secrets of my patients using psycho-kinesiology, mental field therapy, and family constellations.
Nature provides everything we truly need. With natural remedies, always used only temporarily, and a natural diet, we as doctors, in conjunction with our patients, can restore complete health. God has provided us with everything. We can win the hearts of others every day.
So, a friendly greeting with a smile, a hug for the neighbor, a helping hand for those in need, praise for the children, renewed declaration of love to one’s wife, a kind gesture in traffic, a thank you to the cashier at the supermarket or my baker. With a smile in the morning, you’ve already won the day for yourself.
A healer named Anna Gigante used to send me meditation materials quite often, and I found one in particular to be very helpful.
Imagine that we humans are all connected by invisible threads. When I do something good for someone, that good always comes back to me through these invisible threads.
I’d like to take a little detour now. I read a book in prison, twice.
Sorry for saying prison, I mean correctional facility, of course. Yes. So, the book was called “Humankind: A Hopeful History,” by a Dutch historian named Rutger Bregman. It’s a bit difficult to read, but he wrote a fantastic book, over 600 pages long. And it’s about a new history of humankind, and I thought that would fit in quite well here, since that’s precisely why we’re here today.
I’ve borrowed a few stories from it here. Perhaps you remember the story of Christmas Eve 1914 in the First World War. In the trenches near the village of Domaine de la Pierre des Dames—I hope I pronounced that correctly—well, there they were in the trenches during the First World War, it was bitterly cold. The British High Command sent a message to the front that the enemy might well attack over Christmas. The generals had no idea what was actually happening. The English saw the lights being switched on on the other side, lanterns and Christmas trees, and heard the singing of “Silent Night.” One Englishman later said of it: “It was one of the highlights of my life.” Then the English sang, and the Germans applauded, and then they sang together. On Christmas Day, they left their positions and exchanged gifts. Then they played football together. In total, more than 100,000 soldiers laid down their arms.
And Christmas 1914 wasn’t the only one: it also happened during the American Civil War, the Crimean War, and the war Napoleon waged against the rest of Europe. The average person has an innate and usually unacknowledged aversion to killing another human being. They wouldn’t take someone’s life of their own volition. This applies not only to Allied soldiers of World War II, but to all soldiers since time immemorial.
Samuel Marshall, historian and colonel, studied this phenomenon. During the American Civil War, at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, 27,574 muskets were found; 90% of the weapons were still loaded. 12,000 were double-loaded, rendering them technically unusable. This was precisely the intention.
George Orwell, the famous George Orwell, by the way, reported on the Spanish Civil War and said the following verbatim: “In this war, everyone always shot past everyone else whenever it was humanly possible.”
Only through trusting coexistence, cooperation, and mutual help and support can we live together peacefully.
Are you familiar with the French author Gustav Le Bon, who wrote “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind”? It was part of the bedtime reading of Adolf Hitler, Stalin, and many others. He prophesied that, as in the Battle of Britain, humanity would fall several rungs down the ladder of civilization. Then panic and violence would ensue. Finally, according to Le Bon, our true nature would be revealed. On September 7, 1940, 348 bombers crossed the Channel, and in nine months, 80,000 bombs fell on London alone, killing more than 40,000 people. A strange calm descended upon London.
An English couple were calmly drinking their tea at teatime. An American journalist asked them if they weren’t afraid, and they replied, “Oh no, what good would that do?” Business owners put up signs in front of the ruins of their former shops reading “More open than usual.” A pub owner humorously addressed the devastation: “Our windows are gone, but our spirits are excellent.” The trains kept running, shopping continued, haggling went on, and the bombs were discussed like the weather: “It’s very blizzy today.”
There was much grief and deep sorrow for the human losses, but the psychiatric emergency rooms remained empty, and the mental health of the British people improved. Alcohol consumption decreased, and fewer people committed suicide than in peacetime.
After the war, many Britons longed for that time because they were united, everyone helped each other, and it didn’t matter if you were left-wing or right-wing, rich or poor. People’s attitude wasn’t typically British; it was typically human.
Survivors of the Titanic, for example, reported that there was no hysteria, no panic, and no running around on board the ship, but rather that everyone helped each other and stood by one another.
Even during the events of 9/11, yes, at the World Trade Center in New York, people were polite, disciplined, and helpful. Everything else that has been said is far-fetched.
With Hurricane Katrina, where there were many reports of looting and other such things, the exact opposite was true. There was only mutual aid and solidarity.
History teaches us that when bombs fall from the sky or dikes break, the best in us comes out. Gustave Le Bon was terribly wrong. Humanity is better and more benevolent than we are led to believe.
Each of us is important and unique, and God has a purpose for each of us. We must find it ourselves.
I believe that we humans do not need crises and catastrophes to reach our full human potential.
Let’s try it again and again every day.
I wish you peace, freedom, and joy.
Thanks.”
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1 The scene in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HFYCZLe5MM, from min. 2:13:51
2 as in note 1 from min. 2:15:47
