Dispute over view escalates Aargau neighbors have been fighting each other in court for over ten years
What began as a question of privacy ended up before the Federal Supreme Court. Now the Aargau High Court has followed the lower court and ordered the dismantling of a steel wall.
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- The Aargau High Court overturns its previous ruling and orders that a green sheet steel wall in a terraced housing estate in Aargau must be removed.
- The judges thus follow the Baden district court and come to the conclusion that the wall hardly provides any additional privacy, but significantly impairs the view of the upper neighbors.
- The basis for this is a right of superstructure from the 1970s, which provides for privacy protection through plant troughs, but does not allow such a massive intervention as the steel wall.
A dispute between neighbors over a privacy screen in a terraced housing estate in the Aargau district of Baden has kept the courts busy for over ten years. While several criminal proceedings were discontinued, the Federal Supreme Court intervened in a civil case in November 2024 and sent the dossier back to the Aargau High Court for reassessment.
A new decision is now available, as reported by the "Aargauer Zeitung". The High Court has overturned its own ruling from 2023 and is now backing the Baden District Court: A striking green sheet steel wall must be removed. For years, it has been at the center of the conflict between two parties who live on top of each other and argue about privacy and views.
The starting point is an overbuilding right from the late 1970s. It allows the upper apartment to use the roof of the apartment below as a terrace. At the same time, an easement agreement obliges the upper owners to provide the lower seating area with a fixed privacy screen - in the form of immovable plant troughs.
A legal back and forth
Over time, however, these troughs became lower and less densely planted. The neighbor below felt that she was being watched and in 2014 installed green posts on her outside wall to attach a metal railing. According to the Aargauer Zeitung, this later resulted in the green sheet steel wall. The upstairs neighbors fought back with complaints and a lawsuit to have the construction removed.
The legal back and forth continued: first it was said that the upper owners were at least co-owners of the terrace wall. Then the High Court ruled that the neighbor below was the sole owner and could build as she wished - "there was no entitlement to a free view". The Federal Supreme Court disagreed and clarified that "the use of a superstructure as a (roof) terrace includes a certain view", depending on the local conditions.
During the inspection in spring, the High Court came to the conclusion that the steel wall hardly provided any additional privacy, but took away "a considerable part of the view". It goes "well beyond what is required by the easement agreement". Because plant troughs and Plexiglas were already sufficient, the wall had to be removed. The decision is not yet legally binding.
