Christina Block

Christina Block is a German businesswoman. She is one of the owners of Block House restaurant chain Block Group.

Christina Block was born May 4, 1973 in Hamburg. She is the daughter of Eugen Block and his wife Christa, née Hauschild (1941–2023). Her father, Eugen, founded the steak company in 1968 with a branch on Dorotheenstraße in northern Hamburg. Block House now operates 55 branches, including in Spain, Portugal, and Austria. Hamburg's five-star Grand Elysée hotel is also part of the Block Group; the company employs more than 2,700 people.^[1]

From 2005 to 2018 she was married to Stephan Hensel, a banker and management consultant. The couple have been separated since 2014. Block and Hensel have four children.

There are disputes over custody of the two youngest children. Hensel has lived in Denmark since the separation. After a visit in August 2021, he did not return the children to Block in Germany, contrary to a court order. The children apparently don't wanted to return to their mother. The older sister, then 15, had already moved in with her father on her own in the weeks before. Die Zeit reported on the older daughter's accusations of violence by her mother, who is also said to have beaten her younger siblings.^[1] After a dispute in court in Hamburg, he was granted the right to determine the children's place of residence. Block filed an appeal and was granted sole custody in 2021. At the same time, the court ordered the return of the children, which the father refused.^[2]

TV presenter Gerhard Delling and Christina Block are an couple since 2021.

In May 2024, grandfather Eugen Block petitioned the court for custody of his two youngest grandchildren. The court denied the request.^[3]

After graduating from the Sophie-Barat School in Hamburg in 1992, Block completed an apprenticeship as a hotel manager at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich. She continued her gastronomy training from 1995 to 1999 with stops in Paris, Atlanta and Beijing. From 1999 to 2000 she studied Block Business Administration an der Edinburgh Business School.^[4]

In 2001, she opened "Prima Pane," a shop selling ciabatta, baguettes, and wraps, at Hamburg's Alter Fischmarkt. A second branch was added in 2003. In 2012, she gave up "Prima Pane" to focus on her family business. Since 2011, she and her two brothers have been partners in Eugen Block Holding, a company specializing in system catering, hotels, and food production.^[5]

In addition to the restaurant industry, Christina Block also invests in commercial and residential real estate.^[6] Christina Block's net worth was estimated at over €300 million in 2025.^[6]

Block is considered to be politically well connected and networking.^[1] In 2019, CDU lead candidate Marcus Weinberg appointed her as an economic expert for his campaign team for the 2020 Hamburg state election.

Block has been a member of the advisory board of the International Hotel Association (IHA) since 2016 and deputy chairwoman of the Hamburg Tourism Association since 2020.

In 2021, according to NDR, Delling and Block discussed the return against the father's will with a "security company" for the first time. Delling and Block are also said to have planned a smear campaign against the father and his lawyer, portraying them as pedophiles.^[2]

At the 2023 New Year's reception of the Hamburger Abendblatt (Axel Springer SE), Block told the newspaper that she hoped that Hamburg politicians would intervene in the case and that she wanted to speak to the relevant people.^[7] She is said to have persuaded FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki, Vice President of the Bundestag at the time, to advocate for her case at the Danish Embassy.^[1]

On New Year's Eve 2023/2024 the alleged kidnapping happened in Gråsten. Hensel was beaten, and Block's two youngest children were taken in an corrinated action to Germany by at least five unknown persons. Multible car changes were involved and the children were brought to Southwest-Germany. After Christina Block announced on January 2, 2024, that the children were with her, a European arrest warrant was issued against her on January 3, 2024. Following a ruling by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court on January 5, 2024, the mother was forced to release the children back to Denmark.^[3]

The public prosecutor's office is investigating her and her father on charges of abduction of minors. The public prosecutor's office ordered searches of business and private premises. Around 100 police officers cordoned off the Grand Elysée Hotel at Hamburg's Dammtor station, which Block operated.^[3]

In the trial beginning in July 2025, she is accused of organizing the child abduction and carrying it out with the help of other defendants.^[3] In addition to Block and Delling, three other people have been charged. Among them is an Israeli ex-military officer whom Block allegedly paid for the operation. He is in custody.^[1] Block's defense attorney accused the children's deceased grandmother of ordering the action.^[8]

Her boyfriend, television presenter Gerhard Delling, has also been charged with aiding and abetting.^[9] Delling is alleged to have organized Christina Block's travel to Baden-Württemberg and coordinated her return to Hamburg with the children. Delling is also suspected of having made false statements to police officers.^[9]