Klaus Stuttmann, the cartoonist of the disputed caricature, has received death threats and does not live in his apartment any more. He and the newsroom of Der Tagesspiegel received countless angry E-Mails. In Teheran, about 60 persons went to the German embassy and threw stones.

Stuttmann and the Tagesspiegel seem surprised by the reactions, reports Der Spiegel. Editor Gerd Appenzeller stated in an opinion piece that the absurdity of the situation in the cartoon was obvious: “No one would ever believe that the Iranian team would show up armed - nor would the Bundeswehr (army) be present on the soccer pitch.“  The paper insists that the cartoon was meant to illustrate the domestic political debate over deploying the army during the FIFA World Cup. Asked if he should have been more cautious in his drawing, now that the Mohammed cartoons are heavily debated, cartoonist Stuttmann said in Der Spiegel: “Of course I was cautious. Besides, I never would have drawn caricatures like those my Danish colleagues drew. I thought the drawings in Jyllands-Posten were a gratuitous provocation.”

The opinions of readers of Der Tagesspiegel, as expressed in an online forum the paper opened on the topic, are divided: some claim that the cartoons heart religious feelings and others argue for press freedom and freedom of expression.

Meanwhile German media politicians and cartoonists demonstrated solidarity with Stuttmann, reports Netzeitung. "The death threats and the verbal attacks against Der Tagesspiegel are absolutely unacceptable", said Jörg Tauss, speaker for media policy of the Social Democrats' (SPD) faction. Within the scope of press freedom such cartoons have to be possible. He admitted that the timing was not so good when considering the current debate about the Mohammed cartoons, but he also said that this is no reason for intimidations.
Various German cartoonists also support Stuttmann. In a letter, published in Der Tagesspiegel on Wednesday, they wrote that it is the cartoonist's task to comment the problems and conflicts that are discussed in the public, no matter if they are societal, cultural or political. Irony, exaggeration and critic are therefore normal and necessary parts of the pictures.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung from Switzerland akes another standpoint. In an article from Thursday the paper criticizes the Tagesspiegel's reaction to the row: The editors in chief have explained that the cartoon was exclusively dealing with the German debate about the army's role at the soccer world cup. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung, in contrast, thinks that the Berlin paper wanted to point to the debate over the Iranian Atomic Programme and to link this to fears for Islamism. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung said that some more words of regret from the Tagesspiegel would have been no shying away from the violent protests.
 
Der Spiegel asked the cartoonist Stuttmann, who has moved out of his apartment after receiving death threats, if the threatening violence has won. Stuttmann said, "I wouldn't say that, but next time I will probably think thrice about whether someone with a religious background could give a different interpretation."

Sources: Netzeitung (in German), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German), Der Spiegel here and here (in English), Der Tagesspiegel (in German)