Andy Grote
Grote in 2018
Senator for the Interior and Sports of Hamburg
Assumed office
20 January 2016
MayorOlaf Scholz
Peter Tschentscher
Preceded byMichael Neumann
Personal details
Born (1968-06-14) 14 June 1968 (age 57)
PartySocial Democratic Party (since 1996)

Andy Grote (born 14 June 1968) is a German politician serving as senator for the interior and sports of Hamburg since 2016.[1] From 2008 to 2012, he was a member of the Hamburg Parliament.[2]

Controversies

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Pimmelgate

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Poster on the Red Flora, the message was continuously removed by the police and re-added by an unknown party.

Grote became known throughout Germany after he filed criminal charges against a person that called Grote "1 Pimmel" on Twitter (now X). This resulted in the person's ex-girlfriend's apartment, since the perpetrator had already moved by that time, being raided by police. This event was widely criticized and condemned in Germany, with the raid eventually being declared illegal and all charges against the perpetrator being dropped. The controversy became known as Pimmelgate.[3][4][5][6][7]

References

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  1. ^ "Andy Grote" (in German). Government of Hamburg.
  2. ^ "Andy Grote" (in German). German Bundesrat.
  3. ^ "Beleidigung gegen Hamburgs Innensenator Grote: Wohnungsdurchsuchung wegen »Pimmelgate« war unrechtmäßig". Der Spiegel (in German). 5 August 2022. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  4. ^ "Beleidigung von Andy Grote: „Pimmelgate"-Razzia war rechtswidrig - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  5. ^ Drügemöller, Lotta (8 August 2022). "Pimmel-Gate in Hamburg: Unterhalb der Schwelle". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  6. ^ Siemens, Ansgar; Witte, Jens (27 October 2021). "Hamburgs Innensenator Grote: »Pimmelgate« – die Chronologie eines Debakels". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  7. ^ Twickel, Christoph (12 September 2021). "Pimmelgate: "Dass 'Pimmel' eine Hausdurchsuchung begründet, finde ich lächerlich"". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 6 December 2025.