Germany bans extremist 'Kingdom of Germany' group
May 13 (UPI) -- The leader of a secessionist group known as the "Kingdom of Germany" was arrested Tuesday morning with supporters for allegedly running a counter-German state, which government officials have now banned.
Peter Fitzek, 59, along with three others, were arrested in raids across seven German states aided by roughly 800 law enforcement personnel as leaders of the so-called "Reichsburger" -- also known as "citizens of the Reich" -- which seek to establish the Konigreich Deutschland, or a "Kingdom of Germany."
"These extremists created a counter-state in Germany and ran criminal financial operations," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Tuesday in a statement, accusing the group of trying to "undermine the rule of law."
Meanwhile, a fifth property was searched in Switzerland.
Founded in 2012 to the east in Wittenberg in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the so-called "Kingdom of Germany" allegedly ran unlicensed banking operations, promoted its own set of laws, had currency, a flag and ID cards with Fitzek as "King Peter I," who in turn appointed two deputies and a finance chief in the scheme.
The German Empire under the Hohenzollern dynasty ended with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918 at the end of World War One which then saw to several years of instability and ultimately the rise of facism lead by Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler, who became German chancellor in 1933.
"This is not about harmless nostalgia," Dobrindt said Tuesday.
According to officials, Fitzek was previously convicted of running an illegal banking operation.
Dobrindt said no weapons had been seized in the raids.
"However, that was not to be expected," he pointed out, adding how the group did not appear to be particularly interested in weaponry, but others "are known to have a fundamental affinity for" them.
There are roughly 25,000 "Reichsburger" members nationwide in groups who seek to overthrow Germany's government, according to its domestic intelligence agency.
They're known to be largely right-wing or anti-Semitic extremists in numbers that have grown over the years.
"I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system," Fitzek told the BBC in 2022, calling the German state "destructive and sick."
The arrests arrived on top of calls to ban the far-right "Alternative for Germany" party, backed by White House adviser Elon Musk, which is now the largest opposition party in the German parliament.
"They reinforce their bogus claim to power with antisemitic conspiracy theories," Dobrindt added.
In March, five people tied to the "Citizens of the Reich" were jailed in an alleged plot to overthrow Germany's federal government in a far-right coup.
"A constitutional democracy cannot tolerate this," the Germany interior minister stated Tuesday.
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