The number of so-called Reichsbürger has once again increased significantly in Hamburg. As of the end of June, 340 people were assigned to the scene in the Hanseatic city, as the spokesman for the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Marco Haase, said. The office is seeing continued growth. The report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, presented just four and a half weeks ago, had expelled 290 Reich citizens and so-called self-administrators who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany and its institutions from the Hanseatic city for the past year. Five years ago it was 130. In percentage terms, however, the number is still very manageable, Hamburg has more than 1.8 million inhabitants.
Nevertheless: "Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, Reich citizens and self-government have been more active than ever," said Haase. "Government measures against the pandemic led to increased dynamism and activity in parts of the scene nationwide and offered Reich citizens greater scope and reception for their agitation against the Federal Republic of Germany."
But there is apparently also a statistical effect because the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is more concerned with the phenomenon: Another reason for the increase is “the steadily progressing investigation of the scene and the associated enlightenment of the dark field by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution,” said Haase. Since Reich citizens often did not comply with Corona rules and did not pay the resulting fines, the authorities noticed them more often - also because they often refused to pay taxes and courts would not recognize them.
For years, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has held lectures at authorities and departments with particularly frequent customer contact in order to draw attention to the typical characteristics. "This is certainly one of the reasons for the increased sensitivity," said Haase. Passing on the data is not a problem. "The Constitution Protection Act applies to all authorities in Hamburg and provides the legal basis for transmitting information to us."
