Germany bans far-right extremist "Reich Citizen" group, arrests leaders

The German government has banned the country’s largest  “Reich Citizen” group, the far-right extremist organisation known as the “Kingdom of Germany,” and arrested four of its senior members as part of a crackdown on groups seeking to undermine the democratic order.

Beginning on May 13, around 800 police officers conducted coordinated raids across several German states, targeting the group’s properties and the homes of its leadership, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

“The members of this association have created a ‘counter-state’ in our country and built up economic criminal structures,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, adding that the members of the group underpinned their supposed claim to power with antisemitic conspiracy narratives — a behaviour that the country can’t tolerate.

Dobrindt emphasised that the group poses a serious threat to Germany’s constitutional democracy.

“We will take decisive action against those who attack our free democratic basic order,” he added.

The so-called “Reich citizens” (Reichsbürger) movement rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state, claiming that the German Reich still exists in its pre-World War II form. Members typically do not recognise federal laws, refuse to pay taxes or social security contributions, and often reject the authority of courts and public institutions.

The “Kingdom of Germany” was established in 2012 by its leader Peter Fitzek in the eastern town of Wittenberg. Fitzek, one of the individuals arrested in the latest raids, claims the group has around 6,000 followers, though Germany’s interior ministry estimates the actual number at closer to 1,000. The group portrays itself as a sovereign entity separate from the German state.

“This is not about harmless nostalgics, as the title of the association might suggest, but about criminal structures, criminal networks,” the minister told reporters later in Berlin. “That’s why it’s being banned today.”

This is not the first time German authorities have targeted the Reichsbürger movement. In 2023, police searched the homes of around 20 individuals linked to the scene as part of ongoing investigations into far-right extremist networks. Observers have drawn comparisons between the ideology of the Reichsbürger and the US-based QAnon conspiracy movement.

German officials continue to monitor and dismantle domestic threats posed by anti-democratic organisations, warning that such groups remain a growing concern for national security.

The group’s online platforms will be blocked and its assets will be confiscated to ensure that no further financial resources can be used for extremist purposes.

By Sabina Mammadli