Nine members of Reichsbürger, a German right-wing extremist network allegedly led by 72-year-old Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, are being tried in Frankfurt, in the most high-profile of three trials. They are accused of planning a violent overthrow of the German government to establish a constitution resembling the German Empire of 1871.
The trial was held in a temporary courthouse specifically built for the trial to accommodate the large number of defendants, lawyers, and media involved in the case.
As one of the biggest court cases in German history, the proceedings have been divided between the courts of Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich. Last month, the trial of nine men accused of preparing the military arm of the network began in Stuttgart. The trial in Frankfurt deals with the alleged leadership of the network. The third trial is due to open in Munich in June.
After a nationwide raid involving 3000 police officers in 150 locations in December 2022, 27 defendants were held in pre-trial detention. The number had been reduced to 26 after one of the defendants died before the trial. The accused allegedly founded a terrorist organisation with the aim of violently overthrowing the German regime.
Among the defendants are former judge and MP for the right-wing AfD Party Birgit Malsack-Winkemann and former members of the German Army’s special units Rüdiger von Pescatore and Peter Wörner, the alleged leaders of the military arm of the network.
Another striking detail of the case is that one of the police officers accused was present during the shooting of Halim Dener, a 16-year-old Kurd shot by German police while putting up posters in 1994.
While this process has been greatly trivialised by right-wing and conservative parties and the associated media by calling the network a “pensioner troop” and their plans a “rollator coup”. The German police found over 400 firearms, almost 350 stabbing weapons, 148,000 pieces of ammunition and several “enemy lists” with the names of representatives of the state order.
The group allegedly carried out shooting training and their plans included arresting members of the German parliament by force of arms; with killings taken into account in the storming of the parliament, which they had scouted out with the help of former AfD MP Malsack-Winkemann. After taking power, they intended to carry out regional purges, organised by “homeland security companies”.
It is expected that the trial will continue for at least another year. Up to 260 witnesses are to be heard and the proceedings comprise 801 files with thousands of pages of evidence.
