Germany on Wednesday woke up to the news of raids being carried out across the country and the arrests of 25 suspected far-right extremists, who allegedly sought to overthrow the state in an armed coup.
According to reports, about 3,000 officers conducted the raids at 130 sites across 11 German federal states. Officials say that those raided were discussing the violent overthrow of the government. Federal prosecutors said the group is alleged to have believed in a “conglomerate of conspiracy theories consisting of narratives from the so-called Reich Citizens as well as QAnon ideology. “
Reacting to the raids, a German official and a lawmaker said investigators may have detected real plotting, drunken fantasizing, or both. “We’re talking about a group that, according to what we know so far, planned to violently abolish our democratic state of law and an armed attack,” on the German parliament building, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.
Sara Nanni, a lawmaker with the Green party, part of the German government, was of the opinion that even though it seemed dubious that the group would be able to carry out a coup, the attempt itself was dangerous. “More details keep coming to light that raise doubts about whether these people were even clever enough to plan and carry out such a coup,” Nanni wrote on a post on the social network Mastodon. “The fact is: no matter how crude their ideas are and how hopeless their plans, even the attempt is dangerous!”
As Germany reels from the news and plans of an attempted coup, we take a closer look at the Reichsb?rger movement, its members and how they are becoming more radical and dangerous in recent years.
What is this Reichsb?rger movement?
The Reichsb?rger movement, also known as the Reich Citizens’ Movement, is made up of a number of small groups and individuals, located mainly in the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria in Germany. Adherents of this movement do not accept the legality of the Federal Republic of Germany’s government authorities. They are devoted to the German empire under monarchy, while some are adherents of Nazi ideas and others believe Germany is still under military occupation.
According to a report in the Deutsche Welle, the members of the Reichsb?rger movement believe the current state is no more than an administrative construct still occupied by the Western powers — the United States, the United Kingdom and France. For them, the 1937 borders of the German Empire still exist.
As Reichsb?rgers don’t accept the legality of the German government, they refuse to pay taxes and have declared their own small “national territories,” which they call the “Second German Empire,” the “Free State of Prussia” or the “Principality of Germania.”
A police officer carries a plastic box during a raid against so-called ‘Reich citizens’ in Berlin, Germany, AP
Earlier this year, a group of Reichsb?rgers, under the name K?nigreich Deutschland, bought two pieces of land in Saxony where they intend to create their own self-administered state.
Members of these groups also print passports and driver’s licences for themselves. They even produce T-shirts and flags for advertising purposes.
Members of these groups print passports and driver’s licences for themselves. They even produce T-shirts and flags for advertising purposes. They proudly announce their intention to “carry on the fight against the Federal Republic of Germany” on their websites.
Members also refuse to pay fines, harass civil servants and political representatives all the way to taking violent action. The activities of “Reichsb?rger” have extended to assaulting and threatening bailiffs, police officers, and judges; sending hate letters to Muslim and Jewish institutions; boycotting and impeding public institutions; refusing to pay taxes and rejection of administrative rulings.
Some Reichsbuerger demand the enthronement of the great-great grandson of Emperor Wilhelm II, forced to abdicate in 1918 as a consequence of World War One, as new German emperor.
Who’s the central figure in this movement?
The central figure of the group is Heinrich Reuss, who calls himself Prince Heinrich XIII. He’s the scion of a long-established but minor German royal household from what is now Thuringia, in eastern Germany.
The 71-year-old has been advocating his idea that the modern German state is illegitimate for years and that the monarchy be restored. In 2019, he declared that the Federal Republic was not a sovereign state, but controlled by Western allies from World War II. In another video, he refers to the German state and judiciary as ‘companies’.
Masked police officers lead Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, to a police vehicle during a raid against so-called ‘Reich citizens’ in Frankfurt, Germany. has been advocating his idea that the modern German state is illegitimate for years. AP
In Wednesday’s raids, it was reported that those arrested wanted to restore power to Reuss as the new state regent.
Reuss works as an independent financial adviser in Frankfurt and owns a hunting lodge in Thuringia. Investigators also reveal that a kind of “shadow Cabinet” is said to have been formed, with Reuss at the helm.
Are they dangerous?
Though little known outside the country until now, they have become increasingly familiar to Germans in recent years and Wednesday’s raids are just a tip of the iceberg.
Government figures show that Reichsb?rger and so-called Selbstverwalter — a grouping with similar beliefs that translates as self-administrators — committed more than 1,000 extremist criminal acts in 2021, double the number in 2020. Of the 21,000 people in the Reichsb?rger scene, around five per cent are believed to be right-wing extremists and 10 per cent potentially violent.
Miro Dittrich, an expert on the group, told BBC that the group has links to the German military, making them more dangerous.
Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj
The group became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic was a hard moment for a lot of people. It was unclear how things were going to develop… conspiracy narratives were quite attractive for a lot of people because it gave the world an order,” he explained.
In fact, German intelligence has reported that several members became involved in the Querdenken (‘lateral thinking’) movement. Querdenker emerged as a force during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the broad and highly active anti-lockdown movement in Germany. The Querdenker organised some of the largest anti-lockdown protests. Their manifesto demands an immediate halt to any COVID-related restrictions on basic rights outlined in the German constitution.
Germany’s internal security is also perturbed that in a country where possession of firearms is rare, a large number of Reichsb?rger members have an affinity towards arms and are in their possession. Verfassungsschutz, Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency, has found that at least 500 members hold gun licences.
Over the past few years, their attacks against the State have risen exponentially. In 2016, a police officer was shot and killed by a member of the Reichsb?rger movement during a police raid to seize the man’s arsenal of over 30 firearms that he had illegally hoarded.
According to the Public Prosecutor General, the group has been planning their coup since November 2021, tasking its armed wing with attacking the German Parliament building and overthrowing the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Many are worried that they will carry out attacks like the one on the Capitol in Washington, DC, on 6 January 2021.
There are many who fear that authorities have underrated the Reichsb?rger as lunatics for too long and that the risk potential hasn’t been recognised and Wednesday’s raid only underscore this concern even further.
With inputs from agencies
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