‘King' of group wanting to install monarchy in Germany arrested
German authorities have banned a far-Right monarchist group and arrested its self-proclaimed 'King'.
In raids across seven German states, police arrested senior members of the 'Kingdom of Germany', which rejects the existence of the post-war German state and is led by Peter Fitzek.
Alexander Dobrindt, the new German interior minister, banned the group owing to its alleged anti-Semitic views and attempts to build a 'counter state' opposed to democratic order in Germany.
The group is part of the wider, loosely connected 'Reichsbürger' movement, whose members typically deny the legitimacy of the modern German state, believing it to still be occupied by the Allied powers of the Second World War.
While some Reichsbürger members are considered harmless eccentrics, others have been put on trial for allegedly plotting coups in Germany, such as the businessman Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss of Greiz.
As part of their rejection of Germany's post-war constitution, some wish for the return of 19th century-style rule under a Kaiser and print their own money and identity documents.
Mr Fitzek founded Kingdom of Germany, which has its own alternative currency, in 2012.
Video footage of his 'coronation' has been posted on YouTube, where he is seen wielding a sword and wearing a crimson ermine cloak.
During Monday's raids, Mr Fitzek was arrested at his home in Halsbrücke, Saxony, while other members' houses were raided in several west German states.
Mr Fitzek faces numerous charges including illicit financial transactions and illicit use of insurance, the Bild newspaper reported.
He has previously been prosecuted for illegal bank transactions and driving without a licence, and once received an eight-month prison sentence for intentional bodily harm.
Three senior members who were also arrested in Tuesday's raids have been named only as Benjamin M, Martin S and Mathias B.
German officials say Kingdom of Germany has around 6,000 members, making it the largest single group within the Reichsbürger movement.
Its websites and social media platforms have now been banned in Germany.
Despite the eccentric nature of its leader, police union chief Rainer Wendt welcomed the arrests and said there was nothing funny about the group.
'This was long overdue. This organisation has been up to its evil deeds for more than 10 years. These are not harmless lunatics, but dangerous people,' he told Bild.
'Reichsbürgers are against the system, they are against our constitutional order. They don't abide by our laws, including our gun laws.'
As he banned the group on Tuesday, Mr Dobrindt said: 'The members of this association have created a 'counter-state' and criminal economic structures.
'In this way, they undermine the rule of law and the Federal Republic's monopoly on legitimate use of force. At the same time, they use anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority.'
In a parallel legal process, Reichsbürger figurehead Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is on trial in Frankfurt accused of treason and plotting a coup against the former government led by Olaf Scholz.
He and his co-conspirators allegedly planned to storm the national parliament in Berlin with an armed group to arrest MPs, on what they referred to as 'Day X'.
An indictment read out in court last year suggested that the group viewed the death of Queen Elizabeth II as the sign that it was time to launch the coup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
French rabbi tells of two attacks in one week as hate crimes rise
PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) - A French rabbi was attacked on Friday for the second time in a week, he told Reuters, reflecting a broad rise in hate crimes across France that has included high-profile anti-Semitic assaults. Elie Lemmel said he was sitting at a cafe in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Friday when he was hit in the head by a chair. "I found myself on the ground, I immediately felt blood flowing," he said. He was stunned and unsure what exactly had happened, he said, initially thinking something must have fallen from a window or roof, before it occurred to him he had been attacked. "Unfortunately, given my beard and my kippah, I suspected that was probably why, and it's such a shame," he said. Friday's incident follows another in the town of Deauville in Normandy last week, when Lemmel said he was punched in the stomach by an unknown assailant. Lemmel said he was used to "not-so-friendly looks, some unpleasant words, people passing by, spitting on the ground," but had never been physically assaulted before the two attacks. The prosecutor's office in Nanterre said it had opened an investigation into the Neuilly attack for aggravated violence and that a person was being held for questioning. It said it could not provide further details. "This act sickens us," former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X regarding Friday's incident involving Lemmel. "Antisemitism, like all forms of hatred, is a deadly poison for our society." Last week, five Jewish institutions were sprayed with green paint in Paris. "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the anti-Semitic attack that targeted a rabbi in Neuilly today. Attacking a person because of their faith is a shame. The increase in anti-religious acts requires the mobilization of everyone," Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in a post on X. France has seen a rise in hate crimes. Last year, police recorded an 11% rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. The figures did not include a breakdown by attacks on different religions.
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
US tariff policy could cost Germany 90,000 jobs within a year, says labour office chief
BERLIN, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. tariff policy could cost Germany 90,000 jobs within a year, the country's labour office head told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in an interview released on Friday. Federal Employment Agency chief Andrea Nahles was citing the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and other institutes, which conducted research on the effect of a 25% tariff rate. "The problem is this lack of predictability, which is doing us massive damage - it prevents companies from investing, hiring and training people," Nahles told the newspaper. "The erratic trade policy of the USA is a burden on the German labour market." Last month, unemployment in Europe's largest economy rose at a faster pace than expected, with the number of people out of work approaching the 3 million mark for the first time in a decade. Economic malaise in Germany has put pressure on the job market even against a backdrop of long-term labour shortages, adding to pressure on conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has vowed to pull the economy out of a two-year decline. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs could deal a major blow to those efforts - possibly putting the German economy on track for a third straight year of recession for the first time in the country's post-war history.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
Europe can sustain Ukraine's war effort without U.S., German general says
BERLIN, June 6 (Reuters) - Europe is capable of sustaining Ukraine's resistance against Russia, even if the United States were to decide to completely halt its military support to Kyiv, the senior military official in charge of coordinating Germany's arms supplies told Reuters. Major General Christian Freuding said NATO's European members plus Canada had already exceeded the estimated $20 billion worth of U.S. military aid provided last year to Kyiv. They accounted for around 60% of the total costs borne by the Western allies, he said. "The war against Ukraine is raging on our continent, it is also being waged against the European security order. If the political will is there, then the means will also be there to largely compensate for the American support," Freuding said in an interview. Ukraine continues to receive weapons deliveries approved by former U.S. President Joe Biden. It is unclear, however, whether his successor Donald Trump will sign off on any new supplies - or allow third countries to purchase U.S. weapons for Kyiv. Asked how long the Biden-approved deliveries will sustain Kyiv, Freuding said this depended on logistical processes as well as the speed at which Ukraine burns through arms and ammunition, but that the summer seemed a realistic estimate. "How the American government handles further requests for military support for Ukraine is unclear at the moment. We can't say anything about that," he added. "In general, the U.S. has a great interest in boosting its own defence industry. I make the cautious assumption that at least purchasing U.S. defence goods, and delivering them to Ukraine, will be possible." Addressing the potential threat that Russia might pose beyond Ukraine, Freuding said Moscow had a clear plan to reconstitute and grow its military, and was expected to succeed in efforts to double its land forces to 1.5 million by 2026. "They are recruiting significantly more personnel than they need as replacements for the war in Ukraine. They are producing surplus stocks of ammunition, in particular, which they are 'putting on store'". Freuding said Russia was also ramping up its military infrastructure, especially in its western military district bordering new NATO member Finland. Any ceasefire in Ukraine could allow Russia to accelerate its rearmament efforts ahead of a possible large-scale attack on NATO territory, he said. The alliance currently believes this could occur from 2029. "Of course, a ceasefire could change the threat situation," Freuding said. Russia denies planning to attack NATO and says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to protect its own security against what it casts as an aggressive, hostile West. Germany has provided a total of 38 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, including funds earmarked for the coming years, making it the second largest donor after the United States, the defence ministry in Berlin says. Freuding said he was not aware of the Trump administration having endorsed any U.S. arms deliveries to Kyiv paid for by third countries. Still, making up for certain crucial parts of U.S. military support to Ukraine would pose significant challenges to Europe. Listing capabilities that would be hard for Europeans to replace, Freuding cited U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data, air defence systems like Patriot and spare parts for U.S. weapons. "If we are capable of replacing specific (ISR) capabilities to a sufficient extent - we need to look into this when we definitely know the Americans won't provide this data anymore." Ukraine uses U.S. intelligence data to help its air defence, and analysts say also for targeting. ($1 = 0.8757 euros)
