His name is Heinrich XIII, he is 71 years old and comes from an old German noble family, the House of Reuss, which has a tradition of naming all male children Enrique (Heinrich) and distinguishing them with a digit. Due to his lineage and his work as a businessman, he was a fairly well-known personality in his city of Frankfurt. But as of this Wednesday, a very serious accusation weighs on him: being the leader of a group of 25 people who were arrested in Germany over plans for a putsch. The organization, which German authorities have described as terrorist, consists of members of a far-right movement called Reichsbürger, which does not recognize democratic Germany.
The citizens of the Reich are one of the main concerns of the security forces, who consider them to be very radical and sometimes armed. It is not an organized group as such. They are small groups or individuals who are nostalgic for the German Reich and question the very existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and its legal system. They do not recognize the constitution and borders and deny the legitimacy of democratically elected political representatives. They live in a kind of parallel reality in which they refuse to use official IDs and instead issue fictitious IDs such as their own driver’s license, the equivalent of the DNI or “Deutsches Reichskennzeichen”. Many refuse to pay taxes.
This movement has been in the crosshairs of the authorities for some time. According to the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the environment surrounding Reich citizens has “a high potential for violence”. In its most recent 2021 Report on Extremist Threats to National Security, the Bureau estimated that approximately 21,000 people are associated with this ideology, and of those 2,100 are violent or at clear risk of becoming violent. His ideas overlap with those of far-right neo-Nazi groups. They agree with historical revisionism and National Socialist principles.
The profiles of the 25 arrested this Wednesday for plotting an attack on the German Bundestag are very diverse: the self-proclaimed Prince Reuss, who would become the head of state of the new order they wanted to impose; a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD); former commanders of the German army; ex-cops; but also a chef, a pilot, a lawyer and a classical music tenor. A wealthy doctor donated 20,000 euros to the group, which Spiegel said was used to deal with “spiritual matters”, and contacted alleged fortune tellers to check whether fellow campaigners were trustworthy.
The group, a widespread network with suspects in 11 of Germany’s 16 states, Austria and Italy, is also made up of a movement called Querdenker (lateral thinkers, according to self-description) and supporters of QAnon’s conspiracy ideology in the US, according to federal prosecutors. Under the name Querdenker, known as the leader of the protests against the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic, hides a very heterogeneous movement of deniers, conspiracy theorists, right-wing extremists and ordinary citizens who are upset about the restrictions.
The detainees, explained federal prosecutor Peter Frank on Wednesday, fit both into the environment of the so-called Reich citizens and into that environment of radicalization fueled by conspiracy theories. Having neither a national-level party or organization nor a defined ideology, they are difficult groups to police, although police have been monitoring the dismantled coup network since at least the summer. They had their phones tapped and controlled their chat groups. So they discovered that Prinz Reuss called for violent actions: “Now let’s crush them, the fun is over!” He calls out in one of the intercepted calls.
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The investigators were surprised by the age of the terrorists: Almost all of them are over 40 years old and their two leaders – Henry XIII 70 years old. The untypically aristocratic leader of the conspiracy was already registered as a sympathizer of the Reich Citizens’ Movement. Years ago, at a conference in Zurich, he denied the legitimacy of the Federal Republic, spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and spoke of Germany as an “occupied country”. He also defended monarchy as the most perfect system. Investigators assume that he wanted to become the next German emperor.
The Emperor, a “bitter old man”
His family separated from him a long time ago. In August, Henry XIV, speaker of the House of Reuss, which ruled Thuringia for 800 years until the collapse of the German monarchy, told a regional newspaper that Henry XIII. “voluntarily” distanced myself from them. He called him a “pissed old man”, said he was into “conspiracy theories” and was confused. The Reuss family, he emphasized, had nothing to do with his relative’s political statements. Although there are no more princes in Germany, Henry XIII. continue this name.
The Reichsbürger see themselves as a continuation of the German Empire (1871-1918) and spread their vision of the world via the Internet, where they maintain their own websites, social media channels and discussion forums. Some also make cash by offering fake identity documents “DNI del Reich”. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, one such group, the Bismarck Heirs, tried to set up its own news site last year. In their minds they are the patriots and that is why they want to liberate Germany from the current government.
The detainees were convinced that the country was being ruled by members of a “deep state” and that a secret society called The Alliance was preparing to intervene to liberate the Germans. Members of the network’s military arm should help them depose the current rulers. The public prosecutor says they were aware that there would be deaths, but they see them as an intermediate step in order to achieve the alleged “system change at all levels”.
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