“Abyss of a terrorist threat” — start of the Reichsbürger trial in Stuttgart

“Deutsch­land GmbH”, “lateral thin­kers”, “lizard people”, “alumi­nium hats” — since the coro­na­virus pandemic at the latest, ever­yone can probably asso­ciate some­thing with the term “Reichs­bürger”. Given the absur­dity of some of this group’s conspi­racy myths, it some­times seems that they cannot really be meant seriously.

At the latest, however, when Reichs­bürger acti­vi­ties dege­ne­rate to the point of plot­ting to over­throw the govern­ment, the fun is defi­ni­tely over.

After a lengthy inves­ti­ga­tion, a major raid against the Reichs­bürger milieu took place in December 2022 in various federal states as well as Austria and Italy, during which a large number of so-called Reichs­bürger were arrested — inclu­ding Hein­rich XIII Prince Reuß. Accor­ding to the Federal Public Prose­cu­tor’s Office, the “noble” property entre­pre­neur was to be installed as a kind of “head of state” accor­ding to the plans of the terro­rist network.

The aim of the group is said to have been the violent elimi­na­tion of the basic demo­cratic order. The plan was for a so-called “council” to take over govern­ment affairs and a “mili­tary arm” to set up a “new German army” and “home­land defence compa­nies”.

Accor­ding to the federal prose­cu­tor’s office, the second ringleader was Rüdiger v. P., a former paratro­oper commander. Other people involved included the former AfD member of parlia­ment Birgit Malsack-Winke­mann, former offi­cers from special units of the Bundes­wehr and several other active and non-active Bundes­wehr soldiers.

In order to nego­tiate the “new state order” in Germany with the victo­rious Allied powers of the Second World War, Reuß is said to have already tried to contact the Russian Fede­ra­tion, which was supposed to be the central point of contact in this context.

In this context, Federal Minister of the Inte­rior Nancy Faeser spoke of an “abyss of terro­rist threats”.

A telling piece of infor­ma­tion in passing: in 2023, the buil­ding regu­la­tions office of the Saale-Orla district also began inves­ti­ga­ting the “Reichs­bürger leader”. There is a gilded pavi­lion in the shape of a pyramid on the grounds of his hunting lodge, which, in the opinion of the regu­la­tory autho­rity, should not be there due to a lack of plan­ning permis­sion.

The pyramid struc­ture, which measures around ten by ten metres at its foun­da­tions, is said to have been erected in 2021 — it is alleged that Henry XII Prince Reuss wanted to use it as a way to honour himself. Prince Reuss alle­gedly wanted to protect himself from radio waves and ther­e­fore had the basic struc­ture made of alumi­nium parts and all cavi­ties filled with quartz sand.

Criminal procee­dings against those involved are now being held in parallel at three higher regional courts.

The trial began on Monday at Stutt­gart Higher Regional Court, where nine of the 26 defen­dants are being tried in the highly secure cour­t­room in Stamm­heim — the same cour­t­room where the Red Army Faction (RAF) was tried at the time.

The defen­dants are charged with member­ship of a terro­rist orga­ni­sa­tion (§ 129 StGB) and prepa­ra­tion of a treasonable enter­prise (§ 83 StGB). One of the defen­dants is even accused of attempted murder, as he is alleged to have shot at police offi­cers during a search of a flat in March 2023.

Reuß himself, toge­ther with other defen­dants, will not stand trial in Frank­furt until 21 May 2024.

The remai­ning members of the terro­rist network will have to stand trial before the Munich Higher Regional Court from 18 June 2024.