Christina Block’s children were kidnapped while at a fireworks display with their father Stephen Hensel in Denmark (Picture: Public Address/Action Press/REX/Shutterstock)
The children of an heiress have been kidnapped while they were watching a New Year fireworks display with their father.
Stephen Hensel, the ex-husband of Christina Block – who is an heiress to a major steakhouse chain in Germany – was at a display in Denmark with two of their kids when they were snatched.
Klara, 13, and Theodor, 10, were forcefully taken from the Cafeodora restaurant in the southern town of Gråsten near the German border shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.
A group of men attacked Stephen and knocked him to the ground before fleeing in two rental cars with the children at around 12.17am.
Both Danish and German police immediately launched a manhunt with patrol vehicles stationed at the border just 10 miles from where the youngsters were kidnapped.
Neither of the children have yet been found and their parents have not spoken publicly about the incident.
‘We were involved because of a possible kidnapping,’ a federal police spokesman told German news outlet BILD.
Christina has been locked in a custody battle for the two children who have lived with their father Stephen since 2021 (Picture: Public Address/Action Press/REX/Shutterstock)
Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein state police took control of the search at 2.53am and cops in Hamburg police are also now investigating.
The kidnappers used two cars registered in Germany – a Citroën DS7 Crossback with the registration DN-AV 9551 and a Mercedes A-Class with plate number WI-W 6481 E.
Officers in Denmark say the alleged abduction may be linked to an ongoing custody battle for the children that Christina, 49, and Stephen have been locked in for two years.
A dispute has rumbled on since Stephen kept Klara and Theodor at his home when they visited him in the summer of 2021.
Christina Block is now in a relationship with German TV star Gerhard Delling (Picture: Getty Images)
Christina and her current partner Gerhard Delling, who is a famous TV presenter, have been fighting for the children to return to Germany ever since.
Stephen and Christina’s eldest daughter Johanna, 17, reportedly lives with her father voluntarily in Denmark, while their daughter Greta, 15, lives with her mother in Hamburg.
Tensions worsened in July last year when their grandmother Christa died of cancer aged 82 – but none of the children living with Stephen were allowed to say goodbye to her.
Shortly before Christmas, Christina said she felt ‘alienated’ from her children and told Bild: ‘The Christmas holidays make the whole thing even worse.
‘I have sent gifts and letters to the three of them – but I don’t know if they will arrive.
‘And then I wonder what words my ex-husband will use to give the gifts to my children. Does he present it benevolently or does he denigrate the content? I don’t know and that hurts.’
She is the daughter of entrepreneur Eugen Block, 83, who founded the hugely successful Block House steakhouse chain in 1968.
Eugen is reportedly worth around £260 million, according to German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, and his three children Christina, Dirk and Philipp each have an 8% share in his company, Eugen Block Holdings.
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