\n Three men with alleged ties to a German extremist group that plotted to overthrow the government and kidnap a minister have gone on trial in Munich this Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Issued on: 01\/04\/2026 – 15:51Modified: 01\/04\/2026 – 15:54<\/p>\n
2 min Reading time\n<\/p>\n
The men are accused of backing the “United Patriots” group, part of Germany’s Reichsb\u00fcrger movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The term Reichsb\u00fcrger (“Citizens of the Reich”) refers to a loose grouping of extremists and conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.<\/p>\n
Long dismissed by critics as malcontents and oddballs, they have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.<\/p>\n
Four members of the “United Patriots” group were jailed in March 2025 over plans to trigger civil war-like conditions in Germany<\/a> through violence, with the aim of taking over state power. They were also found guilty of plotting to kidnap then-health minister Karl Lauterbach, a figure of scorn for many opponents of Covid 19-era restrictions.<\/p>\n The men going on trial on Wednesday, named as 60-year-old Achim M, 71-year-old Joachim K and 62-year-old Rainer S, are accused of supporting the group and backing its coup plans.<\/p>\n Germany marks 35 years of unity, despite persistent East-West divide<\/a><\/p>\n According to prosecutors, the men had all been earmarked to serve as government ministers in a re-established “Kingdom of Prussia” after Germany’s current republic had been overthrown.<\/p>\n The group, referred to by investigators as the Kaiserreichsgruppe or “Imperial Group”, was allegedly committed to forcibly establishing a new authoritarian Germany based on the old 1871 Imperial Constitution.<\/p>\n The three men and one woman convicted last year over the plot were sentenced to between five years and nine months and eight years in prison by the Koblenz higher regional court.<\/p>\n ‘Silent night’ sabotage <\/p>\n Their plan had included a sabotage attack to disable the power grid in an operation they dubbed “Silent Night” in the hope they would seize power in the ensuing chaos, the court said.<\/p>\n Two further people, a man and a woman, were also jailed in April 2025 for being accomplices in the plot.<\/p>\n The trial in Munich is one of several currently targeting alleged members of the Reichsb\u00fcrger movement. There were around 26,000 Reichs\u00fcurger<\/a> in Germany in 2024, according to the federal domestic intelligence agency \u2013 up from around 25,000 in 2023.<\/p>\n Far-right ‘Reichsb\u00fcrger’ coup trial opens in Germany<\/a><\/p>\n