German Authorities Ban Reichsbürger Group for Plot to Overthrow State, Arrest Self-Professed “King”

Peter Fitzek, the self-proclaimed “King,” has been arrested by German authorities and his group has been dissolved for conspiring to topple the democratic government.

Peter Fitzek, who calls himself the “King of Germany,” and three of his top aides were taken into custody by German authorities Tuesday during widespread raids on a far-right organization suspected of attempting to topple the government and install a new one.

Over 800 law enforcement officers from seven federal states participated in the crackdown. At the end of it, the German Interior Ministry officially outlawed Fitzek’s group, the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich).

In an attempt to legitimize their parallel state, Königreich Deutschland (Kingdom of Germany), the organization engaged in a network of economic crimes and antisemitic conspiracy theories, which Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said were “undermining the rule of law.”

The group aims to destroy democratic governance by substituting its own authoritarian structure for it, Dobrindt stated in a statement, in addition to disobeying the constitutional order.

59-year-old Fitzek, a former karate instructor and cook, has dubbed himself “Peter the First” since announcing his “kingdom” in 2012. He used a medieval sword and ermine garments for the coronation ritual at the time. Since then, he has issued unofficial identification cards, produced his own money, and accumulated land and property around the nation for himself. There are thousands of devoted “subjects,” he says.

An estimated 25,000 people support the Reichsbürger movement, which denies the validity of the Federal Republic of Germany. According to officials, 1,350 of the group’s more than 2,500 members are right-wing extremists who may use violence. Due to the fact that many of its members are known to have illegal firearms, they have previously clashed with law authorities.

Fitzek has a history of legal issues, frequently including flagrant violations of German law. He had previously been jailed for driving without a license, which he performed again as a symbolic protest in front of a courthouse following one trial.

Fitzek called the German government “destructive and sick,” calling it “fascist and satanic,” but he denied any violent intentions in a 2022 interview with the BBC.

Concern over the radicalization of far-right organizations in Germany is on the rise, as seen by Tuesday’s arrests. In 2022, scores of Reichsbürger were arrested for allegedly planning a violent coup that included plans to create a civil war to overthrow the democratic government and kidnap the health minister.

Previously, organizations such as Reichsbürger were frequently written off as fringe movements. However, the security services increasingly consider right-wing extremism to be a major threat to national stability as it spreads along Germany.

The Karlsruhe office of the federal prosecutor claims that Fitzek was the group’s “supreme sovereign,” controlling every aspect of its activities. The group said it wants to establish itself as a sovereign entity under international law and restore Germany’s borders to those of the German Empire of 1871.