Latest news with #KönigreichDeutschland
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Self-proclaimed 'king of Germany' arrested in plot to overthrow government
The self-styled "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" were arrested for attempting to overthrow the state, according to media reports. Peter Fitzek, 59, was taken into police custody during morning raids conducted Tuesday in seven German states, the BBC reported. Fitzek's group, the Reichsbürger, or "citizens of the Reich," has also been banned by the government. The group's aim is to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or "Kingdom of Germany." "I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system," Fitzek previously told the news outlet in a 2022 interview. Reichsbürgers reportedly have their own currency, flag and identification cards and want to set up separate banking and health systems. The Reichsbürger undermined "the rule of law," said Alexander Dobrindt, Germany's interior minister, by creating an alternative state and spreading "antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority," the news report states. He said the group finances itself through crime. Fitzek, who claims to have thousands of "subjects," denied having violent intentions but also called Germany "destructive and sick." In 2022, dozens of people associated with the Reichsbürger were arrested for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister in an effort to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German democracy, according to the BBC. Once dismissed as eccentric by critics, the group is now seen within Germany as a serious threat as the far right has grown politically over the past decade, the report said.
Muscat Daily
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
Germany bans far-right ‘Kingdom of Germany' group
Berlin, Germany – German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has banned the far-right group 'Königreich Deutschland' (Kingdom of Germany), a faction within the so-called 'Reichsbürger' (Reich Citizens) movement, accusing it of trying to establish a 'counter-state' within Germany. The ban came as police on Tuesday conducted raids on the properties of key members of the group in seven German states, making four arrests, including that of Peter Fitzek, the self-declared monarch of the 'Kingdom'. Security authorities believe Fitzek to have founded the group in 2012. What did Dobrindt say of the ban? Justifying the ban on the group, Dobrindt said: 'The members of this association have created a 'counter-state' in our country and built up criminal economic structures.' 'In this way, they undermine the rule of law and the Federal Republic's monopoly on the legitimate use of force,' he added. 'At the same time, they use antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority.' The ban also includes associated splinter groups. 'Kingdom of Germany' group According to Dobrindt, the 'Kingdom of Germany' group, which reportedly has around 6,000 members, is the biggest association within the Reichsbürger scene, whose supporters deny the legitimacy of Germany's post-World War II Federal Republic. This attitude leads some members to refuse demands made by legal authorities, such as fines and taxes. They have also been known to print their own passports and driver's licenses. Security authorities in Germany have paid increased attention to the movement in recent years amid fears of its violent potential. Most notably, a plot to overthrow the German government was uncovered in late 2022. Its planners are said to have intended to raid the German parliament and arrest key politicians before installing an interim government. Some 27 people were charged in connection with the plot, and 380 firearms were found. Three major trials on terrorism and conspiracy charges began in late April 2024. The Tuesday raids took place in Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. DW
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Germany bans extremist movement and arrests self-declared 'king' Peter
A self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or "citizens of the Reich", which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or "Kingdom of Germany".Alexander Dobrindt, German's interior minister, accused the group of attempting to "undermine the rule of law" by creating an alternative state and spreading "antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority". His ministry announced the dissolution of the group, and accused it financing itself through "economic criminal structures".Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, calls himself "king" and identified himself to judges as "Peter the First" in a previous court case. He had himself crowned in 2012 while dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword. Since then he has been buying land and property across Germany. Reichsbürgers have their own currency, flag and ID cards, and want to set up separate banking and health systems. Fitzek claims to have thousands of followers - or "subjects".In an interview with the BBC in 2022 he denied having any violent intentions, but also described the German state as "destructive and sick". "I have no interest in being part of this fascist and satanic system," he told the BBC's Jenny Hill, when she visited his "kingdom" in eastern Germany. Fitzek has repeatedly clashed with the authorities and refused to abide by German laws, often in what appears to be in a publicity-seeking manner. He has previously been jailed for repeatedly driving without a licence, following a decision to hand his back in a symbolic rejection of the law. At the end of one trial session, Fitzek was seen getting into his car in front of the court and driving is one of around 25,000 Reichsbürger in Germany. Numbers have been growing over the last few are right-wing extremists who peddle racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories. They refuse to recognise the authority of security forces and many possess illegal arms, which has led to shoot-outs with police. Officials say that around 2,500 are potentially violent and that 1,350 are classed as right-wing 2022 dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German the past, Reichsbürger were often dismissed as eccentric cranks because of their outlandish as the far right has grown in strength politically in Germany over the last decade, officials now see them as a serious federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe said Fitzek was arrested along with three other suspected ringleaders of the group, which it classified as a criminal the "so-called supreme sovereign", Fitzek had "control and decision-making power in all key areas", the office said."The 'Kingdom of Germany' considers itself a sovereign state within the meaning of international law and strives to extend its claimed 'national territory' to the borders of the German Empire of 1871," it added in a statement.
