Photo: REUTERS / copyright
The German authorities have spent years monitoring the so-called Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich), groups or individuals who deny the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany as a State and its legal system for many different reasons.
In many cases, they deny the legitimacy of any democratically elected representative. The German authorities arrested on Wednesday 21 people who “follow a conglomerate of conspiracy myths made up of narratives from the so-called Reichsbürger and the QAnon ideology”, according to the German Prosecutor’s Office, set off the alarms again. The detainees conspired to overthrow the government and form a new one.
“The investigations allow us to glimpse the abyss of a terrorist threat coming from the environment of the Reichsbürger“, declared today the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser. The association is “driven by fantasies of violent overthrow and conspiratorial ideologies,” added the Social Democratic politician.
A Parallel State The Reichsbürger often see themselves on the fringes of the current legal system such as parliament, laws or courts. They state that the historic German Reich continues to exist today, hence its name (Bürger is a citizen in German).
Specifically, this means that the Reichsbürger reject, for example, official German identity documents and instead issue fictitious documents such as the “Reich driver’s license” or “Reich identity card” or use “Reich” car license plates. German Reich” or even print their own currency. They also refuse to pay taxes or tariffs and the social security contribution.
This led to the Reichsbürger being a reason for national ridicule for years and were branded as nuts. However, in recent years the State security services warned that had become more radical and dangerous and intensified their surveillance.
Despite its name, it is not a unified organized national movement , but rather a disparate collection of small groups and individuals scattered across the country united by that common belief.
Some even dream of creating its own autonomous State , apart from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Earlier this year, for example, a group calling itself Königreich Deutschland (Kingdom of Germany) bought two plots of land in the eastern German state of Saxony, on which intended to create its own State.
Vigilados desde 2021
Many of his sympathizers have weapons, legal or illegal. This became worrying when in 1200 a Bavarian Reichsbürger fired and killed a policeman while agents searched his cache of weapons at his home.
Since then, the German authorities have revoked more than a thousand gun licenses from people who believe they subscribe to this ideology. Specifically, between 1200 and 2022, about 1.32 Reichsbürger saw their weapons permits withdrawn. However, it is currently estimated that some 976 own guns legally.
Government figures show that the Reichsbürger and the so-called Selbstverwalter -a “group” with similar beliefs that translates as “self-managed”- committed more than 1.01 extremist criminal acts in 2022, double that in 2021.
Of the 01. people from Reichsbürger circles, it is believed that 1.500 are right-wing extremists and 2.80 potentially violent, according to data from the German secret services in the interior, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). In addition, according to their information, “approximately one in ten considers themselves willing to resort to violence.”
They also have ties to the German Army, says Miro Dittrich, an expert who is tracking the group, as well as other conspiracy theorists.
In his opinion, the pandemic has served to further radicalize the group, as well as to increase their support.
“The pandemic was a difficult time for many people. It was not clear how things were going to develop… conspiracy narratives were quite attractive to many people because they gave order to the world
“, he affirms.
The Reichsbürger demonstrated together with the anti-vaccination and the covid deniers (in fact, some share these positions), as well as QAnon supporters, during the massive street protests of recent years.
They were also there when a mob from a demonstration against the measures applied by the German government to fight covid tried to storm the Bundestag in August 1200.
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