More than 500 cases of physical violence and 67 cases of sexual abuse have been revealed between 1945 and the early 90s.

Over five hundred members of the world-famous Regensburger Domspatzen (literally “cathedral sparrows”) boys choir in Germany, some as young as eight years old, were abused between 1945 and 1990, according to a new independent report by lawyer Ulrich Weber.

“Pre-school victims of the Regensburg Domspatzen in Etterzhausen and Pielenhofen described the institution as a prison, hell and a concentration camp,” Weber said at a press conference on Tuesday at which he presented his findings and was reported on by CNN. “Many of them called the time there as the worst of their lives, marked by violence, fear and helplessness.”

The renowned choir, which provides the music for St Peter’s Cathedral in Regensburg in Bavaria, appears on numerous recordings, has toured internationally, and performed concerts for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

According to the report, boys who tried to escape the boarding school were beaten and humiliated in front of other choristers. Reasons for the abuse were “misconduct or poor performance of the students, but...