{"id":376770,"date":"2025-08-27T04:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/376770\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:59:10","slug":"who-are-germanys-reichsburger-and-what-do-they-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/376770\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are Germany’s \u201cReichsb\u00fcrger\u201d and what do they want?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nEurope\u2019s rightward shift spans populist parties to extremist groups. One of the most obscure \u2013 but no less dangerous \u2013 is Germany\u2019s Reichsb\u00fcrger movement: a network that denies the legitimacy of the German state, has plotted a coup, and is spreading beyond Germany\u2019s borders.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nJust recently, German police detained<\/a> three individuals suspected to be involved in a 2022 coup d’\u00e9tat tied to aristocrat entrepreneur-turned-conspiracy theorist Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.\n<\/p>\n

\nTheir arrests thrust the Reichsb\u00fcrger (\u201cCitizens of the Reich\u201d) or Selbstverwalter (\u201cself-administrators\u201d) \u2013 a blend of extremists, conspiracy theorists, and armed zealots \u2013 back into the spotlight.\n<\/p>\n

\nAuthorities place them within a fragmented ecosystem<\/a> that hides in digital thickets<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Between kings and a coup d’\u00e9tat
\nIn 2012, Peter Fitzek \u2013 a former chef and karate teacher \u2013 declared himself king of the \u201cKingdom of Germany.\u201d His self-styled state boasted its own currency, bank, and insurance system. Last May<\/a>, the Reichsb\u00fcrger-affiliated project was banned and Fitzek taken into custody.<\/p>\n

\nIn late 2022, a group calling itself the Patriotic Union, embedded within the Reichsb\u00fcrger scene, allegedly planned to overthrow the federal government and install Reuss as head of state. Not with torches and pitchforks but with bullets and explosives.\n<\/p>\n

\nAccording<\/a> to prosecutors, the group raised about \u20ac500,000, amassed a \u201cmassive arsenal of weapons,\u201d and drafted a new constitution for a post-coup state. The plan included storming the German parliament \u2013 copying the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol \u2013 and dismantling democratic institutions. Authorities classified the group as a terrorist organisation.\n<\/p>\n

In 2024, nine core members were charged with high treason, attempted murder, and plotting the coup. Among them was Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former far-right MP for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and long-standing judge at the Berlin Regional Court \u2013 still serving on the bench at the time of her arrest. Twenty-seven others have already stood trial<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Deutschland GmbH<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s Office for the Protection of the Constitution defines<\/a> Reichsb\u00fcrger as \u201cpersons and groups who \u2018deny the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and reject the entire legal system.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The assemblage is heterogenous. Its ideological sources range from monarchism and antisemitism to esotericism and outright fascism, making the movement difficult to untangle. Active since the 1980s and monitored since 2016<\/a> as an anti-state network, Reichsb\u00fcrger factions span monarchists to radical libertarians.<\/p>\n

Some claim the German Empire still exists within its 1871 or 1937 borders; others insist Germany is merely a corporate entity \u2013 \u201cDeutschland GmbH\u201d \u2013 still under Allied control. Many refuse to pay taxes, reject official documents, and sometimes violently confront authorities \u2013 up to lethal attacks, such as the 2016 shooting<\/a> of a police officer, which first pushed the movement from eccentric nuisance to security threat.<\/p>\n

Language, too, fuels their conspiracy: the word Personalausweis \u2013 German for identity card \u2013 is twisted<\/a> to suggest that citizens are mere \u201cstaff\u201d of a company called Germany.<\/p>\n

Around 30 identifiable groups are believed to be part of the larger network. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which campaigns against right-wing extremism, antisemitism and racism, has described<\/a> the heterogenous network as one of \u201cmystical misanthropy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing bigger<\/p>\n

The movement swelled during the protests against coronavirus protection measures, then fed off anger over the war in Ukraine and its economic fallout.<\/p>\n

“Many elements of the ideology prevalent in the ‘Reichsb\u00fcrger’ […] scenes are compatible with these protests,” according<\/a> to the German interior ministry, where spirituality, vaccine scepticism, and anti-democratic narratives converge.<\/p>\n

Like other groups seeking to duck state surveillance, the Reichsb\u00fcrger thrive<\/a> in echo chambers, especially on Telegram, pumping out videos, livestreams, and other radicalised self-affirmations.<\/p>\n

\nGermany\u2019s latest domestic intelligence report<\/a> estimated that there are around 26,000 Reichsb\u00fcrger nationwide, 5% of which are labelled right-wing extremists. Overall, the report recorded 40,700 right-wing extremists, 37,000 left-wing extremists, and 27,200 Islamists.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe movement \u2013 mainly found in rural areas \u2013 has an unusually high share of women compared to other extremist groups, standing at 27%.\n<\/p>\n

Beyond Germany
\nThough rooted in German history, the Reichsb\u00fcrger mindset is seeping across borders.<\/p>\n

\nA study<\/a> for Austria\u2019s interior ministry found \u201cclose ideological kinship and similar radicalisation patterns\u201d between the Austrian and German Reichsb\u00fcrger scene. Conspiracy claims like \u201cCompany Austria\u201d are borrowed from the German playbook, along with the central aim: rejecting the alpine republic as a constitutional state.\n<\/p>\n

\nJoint investigations by Der Spiegel, Der Standard and MDR Investigativ\u00a0uncovered<\/a> links between the German \u201cSaxon Separatists\u201d and Austrian extremists, including a connection to the Austrian interior ministry\u00a0involving<\/a> a person authorised to run explosives workshops.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\nEven Switzerland, often praised for its tradition of direct democracy and self-governance, is not immune.\n<\/p>\n

\nObservers caution<\/a> it could turn into a new base for Reichsb\u00fcrger fleeing Germany\u2019s crackdown. The recent ban of the so-called \u201cKingdom of Germany\u201d underscored those ties: one of the trusted confidants of the self-styled \u2018king\u2019 Fitzek is Swiss. Local conspiracy groups echo the anti-state worldview, though they lack the myth<\/a> of a restored German Reich.\n<\/p>\n

Experts warn of an emerging transnational ecosystem<\/a> of mutually reinforcing movements. Some borrow symbols, rhetoric, and narratives across borders; others grow in parallel, shaped by similar grievances and online radicalisation pathways. Like a mycelial network connected digitally, fragmented groups may feel increasingly capable of action.<\/p>\n

“We will certainly see more such groups […] because this radicalisation in these groups has progressed so far […],” said<\/a> Johannes Kie\u00df, who researches extremism at the University of Leipzig.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“People are actually prepared to use violence and want to take action, meaning they actually want to put the resistance narrative into practice.”<\/p>\n

(vib, cs)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s rightward shift spans populist parties to extremist groups. One of the most obscure \u2013 but no less…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":{"0":"post-376770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115098967325010809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}