A 68-year-old real estate broker in Germany is paying dearly for insulting another man in a dispute over a parking space.

Die Welt newspaper says a Hamburg court fined the defendant (EURO)60,000 ($75,312) Thursday for using an offensive word.

The paper said the defendant had jumped the line for a parking space before the argument erupted.

It said the fine was based on the man's estimated monthly income.

Die Welt quoted the judge as saying it was probably the biggest fine ever handed down in Hamburg for an insult.

The man's lawyer denied he had used the insult, but said that if he had "it would have been so quiet that nobody would have heard."

The defendant plans to appeal the verdict.