BERLIN - For the first time ever, Germany will be putting a former president on trial on Thursday, with Christian Wulff, 54, accused of violating anti-corruption rules before he became German head of state.
A file photo dated Sept 4, 2012 shows then German president Christian Wulff attending the symposium `Encounters - shelters for children' of the Peter Maffay Foundation in Duderstadt, Germany. (EPA photo)
Mr Wulff resigned last year, amid sleaze allegations in the media.
Prosecutors rejected most of the claims, but one remains: that he let a friend pay his 700-euro (29,600 baht) hotel bill when he and his wife went to Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival in 2008.
Mr Wulff is charged with the lowest-level corruption offence, that of `"seeking an advantage'' while he was premier of Lower Saxony state. The friend, movie producer David Groenewold, is accused of conferring an advantage on a public official.
The ex-president denies the charge and rejected an invitation to pay a 20,000-euro fine to avoid a trial.
Many Germans had barely heard of Mr Wulff before he became president in 2010. The role of a German president is largely ceremonial - the incumbent swears in the chancellor, signs laws into force and welcomes visiting dignitaries.
Mr Wulff and his stylish wife Bettina quickly attained celebrity status in the media.
And the Muslim minority in Germany expressed admiration for Mr Wulff when he used his first German national day speech in 2010 to say that although Christianity and Judaism were German traditions, ``Islam now belongs in Germany too.''
Many conservative Germans, however, were furious at him.
Mr Wulff had once been seen as one of the most talented younger Christian Democrats in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling party. He was just 43 when elected premier of Lower Saxony, and by the age of 51 he'd become Germany's youngest president.
The sleaze allegations emerged in December 2011. Mr Wulff tried to head them off in a television interview.
When prosecutors requested permission to investigate him in February 2012, he immediately stepped down.
He has stayed out the public eye; the Wulffs later separated.
The clamour itself brought controversy, with critics contending that the media may have been too aggressive.
At the trial, the focus will be on what Mr Wulff knew about the bill for the luxury hotel accommodation in Munich.
Prosecutors are expected to produce evidence that Groenewold paid a substantial contribution. Mr Wulff insists he was not aware the room was so costly, and did not know that Groenewold was helping to pay.
The prosecution alleges that Groenewold had a motive _ wanting Mr Wulff to persuade the multinational engineering group Siemens to contribute sponsorship money to one of Groenewold's feature film projects.
Mr Wulff did make an approach to Siemens two and a half months later, but argues that helping businesses from his state to prosper was part of his job as premier.
Gernot Lehr, an attorney who is Mr Wulff's spokesman, told dpa that Mr Wulff relished his day in court, but would not comment in advance.
``We will only talk about this case in the courtroom,'' he said.
A verdict is not expected before April.
The court has accredited 70 reporters from Germany and abroad to cover the proceedings.