Germany bans the largest ‘Reich citizen' group and arrests four leaders
The German government has banned the largest 'Reich citizen' group, an extremist far-right organisation that calls itself the 'Kingdom of Germany' and seeks to undermine the country's democratic order, and arrested four of its leaders.
Since early Tuesday morning, 800 police officers in several states have been searching the association's properties and the homes of leading members.
Advertisement
Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said: 'The members of this association have created a 'counter-state' in our country and built up economic criminal structures.'
He added that the members of the group underpinned their supposed claim to power with antisemitic conspiracy narratives — a behaviour that the country cannot tolerate.
'We will take decisive action against those who attack our free democratic basic order,' Mr Dobrindt said.
The so-called 'Reich citizen', or Reichsburger' movement, does not recognise Germany as a state.
Advertisement
Many of them claim that the historical German Reich still exists and ignore the country's democratic and constitutional structures such as parliament, laws or courts.
They also refuse to pay taxes, social security contributions or fines.
The so-called 'Kingdom of Germany' was proclaimed by its leader Peter Fitzek in the eastern town of Wittenberg in 2012 and says it has around 6,000 followers, the interior ministry said in a statement.
It claims to be a 'counter-state' that seceded from the German federal government.
Advertisement
'This is not about harmless nostalgics, as the title of the association might suggest, but about criminal structures, criminal networks,' the minister told reporters later in Berlin. 'That's why it's being banned today.'
The group's online platforms will be blocked and its assets will be confiscated to ensure that no further financial resources can be used for extremist purposes.
It is not the first time that Germany has acted against the 'Reichsburger' movement.
In 2023, German police officers searched the homes of about 20 people in connection with investigations into the far-right Reich Citizens scene, whose adherents had similarities to followers of the QAnon movement in the United States.
Advertisement
Last year, the alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple Germany's government went on trial on Tuesday, opening proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump tariffs could ‘wipe out' European steel sector, senior industry figure says
Europe's steel industry faces being 'wiped out' in the face of Donald Trump's prohibitive 50% tariffs, high energy costs and a mountain of cheaper Chinese steel, one of Germany's biggest industrial groups has warned. Ilse Henne, a board member at the steel, engineering and chemicals group ThyssenKrupp, said the industry faced an existential crisis after the US president's decision last week to double tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%. Asked at the European Policy Centre conference on security in Brussels if she 'feared a wipeout', she replied: 'Of course.' Henne, who is chief executive of ThyssenKrupp Materials Services, told the Guardian: 'Steel is at the beginning of the value chain, so you create a lot of instability for all these supply chains that get disrupted that now all of a sudden have to deal with much more expensive steel.' Steel and aluminium are foundational industries, central to everything from submarines, aircraft and cars to everyday products such as stainless steel cutlery, food mixers and joists in housing. 'If the European steel industry disappears, we will have a lot of collateral damage,' said Henne. 'A weak European steel industry is not only a weak European steel industry. It also puts all the other steps in the industry and the value chain in danger.' She said Europe must step in to save the sector because it was fundamental for military security and was a large employer, and if it failed, the continent would be left reliant on the US and China for a key manufacturing material. There is also the growing problem of cheap Chinese steel imports, something the European Commission has in its sights in current talks with Beijing over its dumping of goods in the EU, which are also covering the oversupply of cars and fast fashion. Chinese steel imports soared by 36% in the first quarter of 2025, according to Eurostat. According to Henne, Russian steel is still appearing on the market, at a level of 3m-4m tonnes a year, just short of the 3.8m tonnes the EU as a whole exports to the US. The US doubling of the tariff on steel and aluminum imports does not apply to the UK, which will continue to pay 25% until 9 July and is racing to implement the terms of a bilateral deal struck last month that would take the rate down to zero. Ministers are working to ensure the UK's biggest player in the sector, Tata Steel, is not excluded from the deal because it has begun importing semi-finished products from India and Europe since closing its blast furnace in south Wales last year. This could breach US rules that require all steel to be 'melted and poured' in the country from which it is imported. US representatives also have concerns that British Steel, which is owned by China's Jingye group, could be used as a 'back door' to bring in Chinese products. The UK government used emergency legislation to take control of the company's plant in Scunthorpe, and according to the Sunday Times, ministers now face a standoff with Jingye over a £1bn-plus compensation claim to get it to relinquish its interest. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Henne said Trump's tariffs strategy could backfire and kill US heavy industries rather than deliver the revival he has promised. 'Following the 50% tariff increase, all US steel producers have immediately bumped up their prices. So the cost of manufacturing has gone up,' she said. The impact 'is a lesson that the US has to learn, unfortunately, I believe, the hard way,' she said. 'What they are doing is actually limiting their own growth potential.' In its second quarter outlook report issued last Thursday, Eurofer, the EU steel trade association, said the US tariffs had dealt 'a severe blow' to recovery expectations. It has called on the EU to bring in 'emergency' measures to help save the industry. 'There is a lot that we can do to save the steel industry,' said Henne, calling on the European Commission to do more to ensure hydrogen came on stream at a competitive price to reduce the reliance on oil- and gas-fuelled furnaces. 'Reducing the tariffs would be a good thing, but equally important for us is competitive energy pricing,' she said.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Irish woman ‘in fear' ahead of release of Christian Brueckner
An Irishwoman who alleged she was raped at knifepoint by the main suspect in the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann says she fears he will seek her out following his release from prison. Christian Bruckner, 48, is due to be freed from a German jail in September after completing his sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old US woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2005. Hazel Behan, 41, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she fears the German man will 'hunt her down'. Brueckner was acquitted by a German court in relation to the charge of violent rape of Ms Behan at her apartment in Praia da Rocha in Portugal's Algarve. She told The Sun: 'His sentence may be ending but mine never did. I have lived with fear every day for 21 years. 'Fear that I'll see him. Fear that he'll find out where I live and hunt me down. I also have fear that he'll do to someone else what he did to me. 'I've called him out in a public forum and I have genuine concern he could confront me. 'I wouldn't put anything past a person like him. 'If he is released, I will worry for every woman and child who, like me, believes the justice system is protecting them. 'A leopard doesn't change his spots.' Later this year Ms Behan expects to discover the outcome of her High Court appeal in Germany against his acquittal for raping her, another woman and a girl in Portugal in 2004. Ms Behan has accused the Portuguese authorities of alleged 'inaction' in identifying and prosecuting Brueckner. In April, she lodged an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Portuguese authorities over their handling of her attack. Ms Behan also expressed her sympathy and support for the Leicestershire-based family of Madeleine who went missing in Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007 when she was three years old. 'As a parent, I cannot begin to imagine what they have gone through and continue to go through every day for the past 18 years,' she said. German and Portuguese police and firefighters carried out a three-day search of an area near Praia da Luz last week in the latest efforts to find out what happened to the missing child.
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Irish woman ‘in fear' ahead of release of Christian Brueckner
An Irishwoman who alleged she was raped at knifepoint by the main suspect in the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann says she fears he will seek her out following his release from prison. Christian Bruckner, 48, is due to be freed from a German jail in September after completing his sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old US woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2005. Advertisement Hazel Behan, 41, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she fears the German man will 'hunt her down'. Brueckner was acquitted by a German court in relation to the charge of violent rape of Ms Behan at her apartment in Praia da Rocha in Portugal's Algarve. She told The Sun: 'His sentence may be ending but mine never did. I have lived with fear every day for 21 years. 'Fear that I'll see him. Fear that he'll find out where I live and hunt me down. I also have fear that he'll do to someone else what he did to me. Advertisement 'I've called him out in a public forum and I have genuine concern he could confront me. 'I wouldn't put anything past a person like him. 'If he is released, I will worry for every woman and child who, like me, believes the justice system is protecting them. 'A leopard doesn't change his spots.' Advertisement Later this year Ms Behan expects to discover the outcome of her High Court appeal in Germany against his acquittal for raping her, another woman and a girl in Portugal in 2004. Ms Behan has accused the Portuguese authorities of alleged 'inaction' in identifying and prosecuting Brueckner. In April, she lodged an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Portuguese authorities over their handling of her attack. Ms Behan also expressed her sympathy and support for the Leicestershire-based family of Madeleine who went missing in Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007 when she was three years old. Advertisement 'As a parent, I cannot begin to imagine what they have gone through and continue to go through every day for the past 18 years,' she said. German and Portuguese police and firefighters carried out a three-day search of an area near Praia da Luz last week in the latest efforts to find out what happened to the missing child.
