In the largest anti-terror operation in the history of the Federal Republic, 25 suspected members and supporters of a terrorist organization are arrested. Little was known about the group until now. According to investigators, the far-right conspirators were planning a coup in Germany.
What happened?
This day should go down in history: the police busted a right-wing extremist conspiracy group that is said to have planned a coup against democracy in Germany. According to the Attorney General, the federal investigative authority, 3,000 officers went on a gigantic raid early in the morning in order to smash a conspiracy group from the right-wing extremist Reich Citizens scene. They accessed almost everywhere in Germany, as well as in Austria and Italy. 25 men and women were arrested and more than 130 properties were searched. It was the largest mission of this kind ever in Germany. The group called itself "Patriotic Union".
What was the group up to?
Nothing short of a coup d'état. According to the investigators, the group wanted a 71-year-old named Henry XIII. Prince Reuss attack the Bundestag, arrest politicians and proclaim a new government. Accordingly, something like the German Empire of 1871 should rise again - with Heinrich XIII. as head of state. The right-wing extremists expected that unrest would break out in Germany and that the police and military would join forces with them. The group calculated that there could be fatalities. According to "Spiegel", the group had "an unusual amount of money". She is said to have bought weapons, but also satellite phones.
What about Henry XIII. Prince Reuss known?
Not much yet. The authorities had classified Heinrich Reuss as a "dangerous person" because he had already attracted attention among the citizens of the Reich. According to the "Ostthüringische Zeitung", a hunting lodge called "Waidmannsheil" in Thuringia, which is said to belong to the prince, was searched. There could be a weapons store there, reported the OTZ. However, this has not yet been officially confirmed.
The princely house of Reuss belonged to the German high nobility when there were still nobility in Germany. The family has already in August of Henry XIII. distant. He left the family group 14 years ago and there is no longer any personal contact, a spokesman for the family told MDR at the time. With Henry XIII. it was a "partially confused" old man who was caught up in "conspiracy theory misconceptions".
Who are the other heads?
Rüdiger von P., who apparently led the "military arm" of the group, stands out. The Federal Public Prosecutor referred to him alongside Heinrich XIII. as a "ringleader". He is said to have tried to recruit police officers and soldiers. The AfD politician Birgit Malsack-Winkemann also belongs to the circle of conspirators. The Berlin judge sat in the German Bundestag from 2017 to 2021 and was designated as the future "Minister of Justice". She too has now been arrested. The other conspirators include a staff sergeant from the Special Forces Command (KSK), several former Bundeswehr soldiers and at least one other AfD politician.
What ideology does the group follow?
The group had apparently developed its own worldview. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor General, the basis for the "conglomerate of conspiracy myths" were narratives of the "Reichsbürger" and the so-called QAnon cult, a wild conspiracy narrative from the USA that is closely linked to the "Reichsbürger" scene in Germany. The group's supporters are convinced that Germany is governed by members of a "deep state," according to the Attorney General. The talk of a "deep state" that secretly pulls the strings motivates right-wing extremists worldwide, including Trump supporters in the United States for years. Like the QAnon cult, the ideology of those arrested also defines the prospect of salvation, in this case through the "Alliance" - which is supposed to be another secret society "of governments, intelligence services and militaries of different states, including the Russian Federation as well as the United States of America ", who wants to eliminate the "Deep State". According to conviction, this intervention should be imminent.
Are there connections to Russia?
According to investigators, Heinrich Reuss is said to have made contact with representatives of the Russian Federation in Germany, for example with the Russian embassy. His partner Vitalia B., a Russian, apparently helped him. The Russian embassy rejected any connection. The "Russian diplomatic and consular offices in Germany do not maintain any contacts with representatives of terrorist groups or other illegal entities," Russian news agencies quoted an embassy statement as saying. According to the investigators' findings so far, there are no indications that the Russian representatives contacted by Reuss responded positively to his request.
How far along were the group's plans?
The group apparently planned the takeover very specifically. With Heinrich Reuss, she had already chosen a future head of state, and the appointments to individual "ministries" had already been clarified. According to the investigators, a body called the "Council" with Heinrich Reuss at the top acted as the governing body within the group. There was also a "military arm", some of whose members came from the Bundeswehr. At the head of this "military arm" was, according to Federal Public Prosecutor Rüdiger v.P., a former lieutenant colonel in Paratrooper Battalion 251 in Calw. The investigators assume that the group was prepared to kill people: the members of the terrorist organization were aware that their plan could "only be achieved through the use of military means and violence against state representatives".
How acute was the danger posed by the group?
That is unclear. The fact that the anti-terrorist unit GSG9 searched a KSK site in Calw could be an indication of the dangerous nature of the group, which apparently specifically tried to recruit soldiers and police officers. On the other hand, information about the upcoming raids has been circulating for a few days. "A number of press representatives* already knew about these raids in the middle of last week," says Martina Renner, member of the Bundestag for the left, to ntv.de. "When such sensitive information is spread so widely, the suspicion arises that good PR is more important than the success of the investigation." Above all, however, this lack of secrecy does not indicate that the investigators assessed the acute danger as very great. However, 52 suspects and 25 arrested are not a small number.
