An alleged far-right plot led by a German aristocrat to overthrow the state that sought the backing of the Russian government has been thwarted in Germany, after a series of dawn raids across the country.
Twenty-five people including a 71-year-old
prince, a retired military commander, and an acting judge and former MP for the
far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) were planning a violent overthrow
of the state, including an armed attack on the parliament, inspired by the
storming of the US Capitol, according to prosecutors.
The group was apparently driven in ideology by
the deep-state conspiracy theories of QAnon and the Reichsbürger (“empire
citizens”) movement, which denies the right of modern Germany to exist. It was
planning to renegotiate the country’s post-second world war settlement,
insisting the “Deutsche Reich” still had legitimacy despite having ended with
the Nazis’ defeat in 1945.
Reichsbürger movement
Reichsbürgerbewegung
('Reich Citizens' Movement') or Reichsbürger ('Reich Citizens') is a label for
several far-right fringe groups and individuals in Germany and elsewhere who
reject the legitimacy of the modern German state, the Federal Republic of
Germany, in favour of the German Reich, which existed from 1871 to 1945.
They
maintain that the German Reich continues to exist in its pre-World War II
borders, and that it is governed by a Kommissarische Reichsregierung (KRR,
'Provisional Reich Government'), or Exilregierung (government in exile).There
are a number of competing KRRs, each claiming to govern all of Germany.
Ideologies among members vary, with monarchist, republican, populist,
reactionary as well as far-right and antisemitic factions.
The
self-described Reichsbürger ("Reich citizens") maintain that the
Federal Republic of Germany is illegitimate and that the Reich's 1919 Weimar
Constitution remains in effect. Most of their arguments are based on a
selective reading of a 1973 decision of the Federal Constitutional Court
concerning the 1972 Basic Treaty between West and East Germany.The
judgement[clarification needed] held that the 1949 Basic Law for the Federal
Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz) itself assumes that the Reich, as a subject
of international law, had survived the collapse of Nazi Germany in spite of the
German Instrument of Surrender and the Allied occupation, but is incapable of
acting as a state because it lacks any organization, such as governmental
authorities.
The
Reichsbürger do not, however, cite the Court's further holding that the Federal
Republic is not a successor state to the Reich, but identical to it, albeit
partially and not necessarily exclusively due to its smaller territorial
extent. Instead they claim to have restored the governmental bodies of the
German Reich and to be capable of acting on the basis of the Weimar
Constitution.
One belief
of the Reichsbürger is that the Federal Republic of Germany is not an actual
sovereign state but a corporation created by Allied nations after World War II.
History
The
original Kommissarische Reichsregierung was founded in 1985 by Wolfgang Gerhard
Günter Ebel, a former Reichsbahn traffic superintendent in West Berlin. Ebel,
who appointed himself Reich Chancellor, claimed to be acting on the authority
of the Allied occupation authorities. Some of the members of his
"cabinet" later fell out with Ebel, and established provisional
governments of their own with names such as Exilregierung Deutsches Reich or
Deutsches Reich AG (the latter being based in Nevada, United States).
KRRs engage
in activities such as issuing currency and stamps, as well as promoting
themselves through the Internet and other media. Where the number of their
adherents allows, they also emulate the "re-established"
institutions, such as courts or parliaments, of the Weimar Republic or of
earlier German states. A restored Reichstag temporarily existed as well as
several Reich Ministers, state governments, and a Reichsgericht.
Ideology
Further
information: Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present)
The
Reichsbürger movement is part of the far right.[8][9] The movement espouses
conspiracy theories, antisemitism, and racism. The movement has been described
as neo-Nazi in character, although The Economist reported in 2016 that
Reichsbürger adherents "draw ridicule even from neo-Nazis". Many
supporters of the Reichsbürger movement are also monarchists who support a
restoration of the German Empire.
The
Reichsbürger movement is characterized by a rejection of the modern Federal
Republic of Germany; denial of its legality and legitimacy;[14] and denial of
the authority of the federal, state, and local governments in Germany.
Reichsbürger believe that the German Empire borders of 1932 or 1871 borders
still exist and that the modern Federal Republic of Germany is "an
administrative construct still occupied by the Allied powers".
The
Reichsbürger movement has used some of the concepts and techniques of the One
People's Public Trust, an American sovereign citizen movement operated by
pseudolaw ideologue Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf.
Membership
In April
2018, Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution (BfV), estimated that Reichsbürger movement
membership had grown by 80% over the previous two years, more than estimated
earlier, with a total of 18,000 adherents, of whom 950 were categorized as
right-wing extremists. This marked an increase from BfV's 2016 estimate of
10,000 adherents and 2017 estimate of 12,600 adherents.The increase in numbers
may be attributable to more adherents becoming known to authorities, rather
than an actual increase in the number of adherents. The heterogeneity of the
movement and its division into many small groups that are often independent of
one another makes it difficult to estimate the number of active Reichsbürger.
Reichsbürger
adherents are scattered around Germany, but concentrated in the southern and
eastern parts of the country,in the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania and Bavaria. BfV has estimated that there are 3,500 adherents in
Bavaria and around 2,500 in Baden-Württemberg.
Adherents
tend to be older,[9] with most aged 40–60 years old and an average age of over
50.The majority are male and socially disadvantaged. The Amadeu Antonio
Foundation, which monitors far-right activities in Germany, states that
Reichsbürger adherents are "often isolated" and "completely cut
off from reality". German counterextremism official Heiko Homburg states
that the Reichsbürger movement is an amalgamation of right-wing extremists,
esoterics, and "sovereign citizens", and that the movement attracts
conspiracy theorists, the economically troubled, and "people who are a
little mentally disordered".
Activities
2014
demonstration in Berlin
As of 2009,
there was no reliable count of the number of KRRs then existing, but the KRR
FAQ, an online registry maintained by a German jurist, lists some 60 persons or
organizations associated with operating competing KRRs. Several (though by no
means all) KRRs have links to far-right extremist or neo-Nazi groups. The
Bundesverfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the
Constitution), Germany's federal domestic security agency, has monitored
Reichsbürger since November 2016, and the security services of individual
states have been monitoring the activities of the group for longer.
Some KRRs
are ready to issue, for a fee, "official" documents such as building
permits, and driving licences, which their adherents may attempt to use in
everyday life. In one instance, Wolfgang Ebel's KRR issued an "excavation
permit" to the Principality of Sealand (a micronation), who then had men
dig up a plot of land in the Harz region in search of the Amber Room for two
weeks, until the landowner hired a private security service to drive them off.
Similarly, in 2002 Ebel's KRR "sold" the Hakeburg [de], a manor in
Kleinmachnow south of the Berlin city limits that had been owned by the German
Reichspost (and therefore, according to Ebel, by his KRR) to one of the two
competing governments of Sealand, thus creating, in their view, an enclave of
Sealand in Germany.
KRR
adherents have also on occasion refused to pay taxes or fines, arguing that the
laws providing for such sanctions have no constitutional basis. In the ensuing
judicial proceedings, they refuse to recognize the courts as legitimate. Some
also pursue their activities abroad. In 2009, after Swiss authorities refused
to recognize the "Reich Driving Licence" of a German KRR adherent, he
unsuccessfully appealed the case up to the Federal Supreme Court of
Switzerland.
Wolfgang
Ebel's original organization, in particular, continues to attempt enforcing its
asserted authority through attempts at intimidation. According to Ebel, his
"government" has issued more than 1,000 "arrest warrants"
against people who have disregarded documents issued by the KRR. These warrants
inform the addressee that, once the Reich Government is in power, they will be
tried for high treason, for which the penalty is death. Ebel has also admitted
owning a "government helicopter" painted in the national colours, but
has denied using it for intimidating fly-overs.Several attempts to prosecute
Ebel for threats, impersonating a public servant and so forth have failed
because, according to German prosecutors, all courts have found him to be
legally insane.
Violence by
Reichsbürger activists
In 2016,
Adrian Ursache, a self-proclaimed Reichsbürger and the 1998 winner of the
"Mister Germany" beauty contest, violently resisted his eviction from
his house in Reuden. When the German police arrived on scene they encountered a
group of around 120 people, who were staying on Ursache's and his in-law's
property. Ursache deemed his property as part of the self-proclaimed
"State of Ur" and flew the flag of the old German Reich above the
home. After a first eviction attempt failed, the German police returned with a
special response team the day after. When the eviction started, Ursache opened
fire and injured two officers. Ursache was shot and rushed to a hospital. In
2019, Ursache was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 7 years in
prison.
Also in
2016, in Georgensgmünd near Nuremberg, a self-described Reichsbürger fired on a
special response unit of the Bavarian Police when they attempted to confiscate
his 31 firearms. Three police officers were injured. One of them later died
from his injuries. The weapons confiscation followed the revocation of the
murderer's firearms permit and his repeated refusal to co-operate with local
authorities. German authorities expressed concern at the escalation in
violence. The event attracted international attention. Bavarian ministers
called for increased surveillance of the right-wing extremist movement. On 23
October 2017, Wolfgang P. was sentenced to imprisonment for life.
In Höxter,
North Rhine-Westphalia, in 2014, one Reichsbürger group (the "Free State
of Prussia") attempted to smuggle weapons into Germany in an attempt to
create its own militia. Police raids have found large stockpiles of guns and
ammunition hoarded by Reichsbürger adherents. In 2018, the German magazine
Focus reported that Reichsbürger adherents had been attempting to build an
armed militia in preparation for "Day X"—"an imagined day of
reckoning or uprising against the German government".
In April
2022 four members of a Reichsbürger group called United Patriots (German:
Vereinte Patrioten) were detained for plotting to overthrow the government.[30]
They planned to destroy electrical substations and power lines through bomb
attacks to cause a nationwide power outage to create 'civil war-like' conditions.
Two members are also alleged to have been plotting to kidnap the German health
minister Karl Lauterbach.[30] Lauterbach was said to have been aware of the
plans.
Patriotic
Union
"Patriotic
Union" (Patriotische Union) or "The Council" (Der Rat) is the
name of a German right-wing extremist Reichsbürger group. It aims is to
establish a totalitarian government in Germany in the tradition of the German
Empire of 1871. The gang wanted to provoke chaos and a civil war in Germany and
thus take over power in the Federal Republic of Germany. Among other things,
the German Bundestag was to be taken by force of arms and taking into account,
that there will be killings of people.
On behalf
of the General Federal Prosecutor the German authorities executed the largest
anti-terror raid in the history of the Federal Republic on 7 December 2022.
More than 130 properties in Germany, Austria and Italy were searched and 25
people were arrested. The Attorney General stated that the group is a terrorist
organization and includes the former aristocrat Heinrich Reuss and the former
Bundeswehr parachutist commander Rüdiger von P..
Over 3000
police searched locations throughout Germany and made several arrests against a
group around Heinrich Reuß, a descendant of the House of Reuß, also referred to
as Prince Heinrich XIII. The group, which includes some active military
personnel and policemen, is suspected of having plotted an armed overthrow of
the German government and the democratic constitution. On December 7, 2022,
German police forces launched a nationwide dragnet against the Reichsbürger: 25
people connected with the movement were arrested for their involvement with a
suspected terrorist network. The suspects include former Alternative for
Germany (AfD) Bundestag member Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.
Aims
The aim of
the group wanted to establish a totalitarian government in the tradition of the
German Empire of 1871. Since November 2021 the network had been planning an
armed attack on the Bundestag, as well as public arrests of politicians to
cause public unrest. The "Patriotic Union" assumed that parts of the
German security authorities would then have shown solidarity with the terrorist
group, which would have led to an "overthrow" and the group would
have taken power.
Members
The group,
which comprised more than a hundred people, was divided into areas of
responsibility. The Federal Public Prosecutor has 52 suspects and arrested 25
of them.
The gang
also included several former members of the Special Forces Command (KSK),
including a former Staff Sergeant of the Paratrooper Battalion of the
Bundeswehr, Rüdiger von P. The GSG9 searched a KSK site of the Graf Zeppelin
Barracks near Calw. Rüdiger von P. was supposed to lead the "military
arm" of the group. The Federal Public Prosecutor describes von P. alongside
Heinrich Reuss as a "ringleader". Von P. is said to have tried to
recruit police officers and soldiers.
A lawyer
and judge in the state of Berlin, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, was designated as
the future "Minister of Justice". Malsack-Winkemann was a member of
the German Bundestag from 2017 to 2021 for the AfD and was arrested on December
7, 2022. The group included at least one other AfD politician, an AfD Stadtrat
from Olbernhau in the Saxon Ore Mountains.
Other
members were doctors and at least one was an entrepreneur.
According
to "Spiegel", the "Patriotic Union" group had "an
unusual amount of money" with which they had bought weapons, but also
satellite phones.
Investigations
German
police authorities have been investigating the group since spring 2022. The
group is also made up of parts of the radicalized German Quedrenken-movement.
Reuss was the starting point for the investigations, which ended up being
carried out by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) under the name
"Shadow". In addition, several state criminal investigation offices
and state authorities for the protection of the constitution were involved.
Infiltration
of police by Reichsbürger activists
There were
renewed calls for more serious measures against the movement in 2016, including
revocation of firearms permits and seizure of their weapons, following
disciplinary action against police officers allegedly connected to the
movement.[39][40] On 27 October 2016, a Bavarian police officer was suspended
from his duties because of his connections to one of the Reichsbürger
movements. There have been allegations of similar kind against other police
officers in different states of Germany as well.
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