Germany: the “citizens of the Reich”, from folklore to a danger for democracy
Prince Henry XIII, a distant descendant of a noble family from Thuringia, during his arrest in Frankfurt on December 7.
REUTERS - REUTERS TV
Text by: Pascal Thibaut Follow
4 mins
The vast police operation carried out on Wednesday December 7 in Germany against a far-right group whose goal was nothing less than a coup d'etat highlighted the central role of the
Reichsbürger
, the "citizens of the Reich".
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From our correspondent in Berlin,
Tweed jacket, elegant scarf in the collar of the shirt, white hair combed back.
The 71-year-old businessman who leaves his opulent Frankfurt home in handcuffs on Wednesday morning has nothing to do with a terrorist.
However, Prince Henry XIII of Reuss, a distant descendant of a noble family from Thuringia, was indeed the central figure of the conspirators targeted by
a vast crackdown on
Wednesday December 7.
The septuagenarian, support of the Reichsbürger, denies any legitimacy to the federal republic.
The word "FRG" appeared in quotation marks on binders found at his home.
In a speech available on the internet, Henry XIII drew without reserve from the conspiracy theories in vogue among the citizens of the Reich.
"
The Jewish financial industry
" is accused of having destroyed the monarchy in Germany, Hitler was for Henry XIII a puppet of the United States and his country since 1945 an American protectorate.
A member of his family who broke ties with the septuagenarian presents him as "
a crazy old man
" but the weapons found during the searches as well as the presence within the small group of active soldiers or former Bundeswehr once again prove more than that this movement is no longer a gathering of mild-mannered people who create shoddy principalities on their lands in the countryside with fancy flags and passports.
Possession of weapons
Appearing in the 1980s, these "
citizens of the Reich
" have experienced a significant increase in their supporters in recent years.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated their number at 16,000 in 2016 and 21,000 last year.
The Covid pandemic has nurtured supporters of this movement by attracting people sensitive to conspiracy theories and more radicalized.
Certainly, the majority of them live, rather harmless, in "
another world
", quarrel with the administration, refusing to pay taxes to a state they do not recognize.
Authorities estimate that around 2,000 Reichsbürger are likely to resort to violence.
Several hundred of them have weapons, even if a thousand people saw them withdrawn.
The authorities placed the movement, or rather the many groups that belong to it, under observation in 2016. During a police operation during which a Reichsbürger was to be disarmed, the latter opened heavy fire against the forces of the order, killing a policeman.
A similar scene repeated itself in the spring.
A 75-year-old woman has been in pre-trial detention since October.
She is considered to be the leader of a group that planned to kidnap the Minister of Health, particularly hated in antivax circles.
"
Irrational Beliefs
"
“
We are dealing with a dangerous mix of people who follow irrational beliefs, some with a lot of money, others in possession of weapons and with a plan that they want to implement (...) and that' that's why it's dangerous and that's why we intervened
, ”explained on the public channel ARD the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch.
"
The searches show it too
", with weapons discovered in 50 of the places searched, ranging from "
the crossbow to rifles and ammunition and this shows that it is not harmless
", he detailed .
Other arrests are likely to occur, he said.
It would certainly be "
easy
" to tax these conspirators as "
harmless madmen
", comments the daily
Süddeutsche Zeitung
, "
but they come from the upper classes of our society, with nobles, teachers, doctors, businessmen, as well than soldiers and police officers
.
Among the main suspects arrested this week is also a judge, a former member of the far-right
Alternative for Germany
party in the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021.
For the daily
Frankfurter Allgemein
e Zeitung
, we must be right: “
There is nothing to suggest that the group would have succeeded in its monstrous plan.
To take them seriously would be to do them too much honor.
It looks like a farce compared to the American extremists who stormed the Capitol
.”
► To read also: Germany: far-right plot foiled, the country in shock
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