A terrorist group from the ranks of the "citizens of the Reich" (Reichsbürger) is said to have planned a coup. 25 people were arrested. They planned attacks on institutions.
Investigators have discovered and dismantled a terrorist group said to have planned a coup in Germany. Their preparations have lasted about a year. This morning, 22 suspected members of the group and three suspected supporters were arrested, the federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe announced. At the same time, more than 130 houses, apartments and offices were searched and raided in eleven federal states.
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the arrested are said to be so-called "Reich Citizens" who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution thinks that there are about 21,000 of them. According to the authorities, about five percent of them, i.e. about 1,150, are right-wing extremists.
The arrests were made in various places in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hessen, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Thuringia and in one case in Austria (Kitzbühel) as well as in Italy (Perugia). There have also been searches in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, they were also directed against 27 other suspects.
"Heinrich XIII PR" at the top
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the terrorist group specifically wanted to recruit members of the Bundeswehr and the police for their purposes. They formed a "military wing" and a council headed by "Heinrich XIII PR". According to media reports, he is a real estate entrepreneur from Frankfurt am Main who also owns a hunting castle in Bad Lobenstein.
As the second leader of the group, the person named Rüdiger v. has been identified by the federal prosecutor. P., about whom the media announce that he was a former commander of the paratroopers. The accused are united by "a deep rejection of the state institutions and the democratic order of the Federal Republic of Germany," he said. To implement their plans, they have also planned the use of military force and violence against state representatives as well as murders.
Central partner Russia
According to the federal prosecutor's office, the group planned to form an interim government that would negotiate a new state order in Germany with the Allied victors of World War II "according to the classic narrative of the Reich's citizens." From their point of view, the only important contact for these negotiations is currently the Russian Federation. "Heinrich XIII PR" has also requested contact with the representative of the Russian Federation in Germany. "However, according to the investigations so far, there is no data that the contacted persons have responded positively to his requests", the federal prosecutor's office announced, reports DW.