German authorities outlawed the largest association of Reich citizens, the “Kingdom of Germany,” seizing its assets and blocking its online platforms in seven federal states on Tuesday.
“Members of the Kingdom of Germany group have created a “counter-state” and economic criminal structures in our country,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
Police detained four members of the group’s leadership, including its founder, Peter Fitzek, who proclaimed himself “Peter I of the Kingdom of Germany.”
Eight hundred police officers are participating in the operation against the group, and searches have been underway since the morning of May 13 in homes and offices associated with the organisation. All of the group’s online resources will be blocked and its assets seized to prevent further use of funds for extremist purposes.
Reichsbürger, or “citizens of the Reich,” do not recognise modern German statehood. Members of the movement consider themselves citizens of the German Empire.
The Reichsbürger movement has approximately 23,000 supporters who claim that Germany exists within the borders of 1937 and do not recognise the modern government, reject the laws of Germany, its parliament and courts, and refuse to pay taxes and fines. The movement has become more radical since the mid-2010s.
