By Sabine Siebold

BERLIN (Reuters) – Twenty-five suspects arrested in Germany on Wednesday accused of plotting to overthrow the state subscribed to a mixed bag of conspiracy theories, including the ideologies of the Reichsburger and Cannon, German authorities said.

Reichsberger movement structure and numbers

Germany’s domestic intelligence service Verfassungsschutz put the Reichsberger movement under surveillance in 2016, shortly after one of its members shot dead a policeman during a raid on his home.

The police had begun the process of seizing his hunting and sporting rifles, which the authorities deemed unfit to carry as a member of the group.

Today, the Verfassungsschutz attributes about 21,000 people to the Reichsbuerger, with about 5% or 1,150 of them considered as far-right extremists.

About 2,100 Reichsbuergers are willing to use violence to achieve their goals, according to the agency’s 2021 annual report.

Verfassungsschutz said the movement mainly operates in very small groups and virtual networks but also includes individuals who are not linked to any structures.

Recently, it has been fueled by a growing number of protesters against anti-COVID measures who have joined its ranks.

Richsburger Beliefs

Members of the Reichsbuerger (citizens of the Reich) do not recognize modern Germany as a legitimate state. Some of them are dedicated to the German Empire under the monarchy, while some are adherents of Nazi ideas and others believe that Germany is still under military occupation.

They are convinced that Germany is ruled by a “deep state”.

Rejecting German passports as invalid and hindering administrative business, many members of the scene seek confrontation with authorities and sometimes use force, such as a suspect who fired a crossbow at police about to search his home in 2021.

Some Reichsbergers are calling for the coronation of the great-grandson of Emperor Wilhelm II, who was forced to abdicate in 1918 as a result of World War I, as the new German Emperor. The eldest grandson was not among those arrested on Wednesday.

Other members of the Reichsbuerger argue that Germany is still occupied and under military occupation. The leader of this part of the movement was arrested in 2021, the newspaper Verfassungsschutz said, after “death sentences” were issued against politicians and journalists on Telegram.

Followers activities for Reichsburger

Germany’s highest administrative court removed a civil servant from office in 2021, for being part of the Reichsbuerger movement, arguing that it violated the obligation to abide by the German constitution.

The man had applied for a passport, named his state as the “Kingdom of Bavaria,” and referred to the 1913 citizenship law, Verfassungsschutz reports.

There have also been attempts by Reichsbuerger members to organize alternative school lessons in protest of anti-COVID measures in schools, aiming to use textbooks dating back to the German Empire.

In 2020, Reichsbuerger members were also among several hundred demonstrators demonstrating about COVID restrictions who broke through police barricades in front of Berlin’s Reichstag building, which houses the federal parliament, and could only be stopped after they reached the steps leading to the entrance.

owning a gun

In a country where the private possession of firearms is rare, the authorities were particularly concerned about gun affinity at the Reichsbuerger Theater and were quick to rid its members of their weapons.

At least 1,050 of them lost their weapons in this way as of the end of 2021, according to Verfassungsschutz, with at least 500 others believed to still hold gun licences.