Kreditwucher, Kreditvermittlungswucher und Additionsklausel

This paper provides a comprehensive and holistic presentation of usury, credit brokerage usury, and the so-called „Additionsklausel“ [addition clause] in § 291 Abs. 1 StGB [German Criminal Code], thereby also including problems related to civil law.
In a first step, the historical development and the protective purpose of the norm are presented. Thereafter, the constituent elements of the granting and brokerage of a loan are outlined. Furthermore, the characteristic features of the victim’s weakness are defined and systematised. The existence of a so-called "conspicuous imbalance" between performance and reward is derived in the context of (1) brokered installment loans for consumers, (2) the granting of loans to persons who can no longer receive a loan from credit institutions due to a lack of creditworthiness, (3) commercial loans, (4) loan reschedulings, (5) occasional loans from private lenders, and (6) loan brokerage.
Different kinds of interaction among several persons in the context of the granting and the brokerage of a loan are clearly defined and distinguished from one another. Finally, the constituent elements, as well as the legal nature of the „Additionsklausel“, are examined.