Three arrested in Bavaria over alleged plot to overthrow German government

German authorities have arrested three individuals suspected of belonging to the far-right “Reichsbürger” movement, as part of a major investigation into a terrorist plot to overthrow the constitutional order.

The Bavarian State Criminal Police (LKA Bayern) confirmed the arrests on August 7, stating the suspects are believed to be members of a terrorist organization with plans to violently dismantle the German state, Caliber.Az reports, citing German media.

The operation was conducted in close coordination with the General Prosecutor’s Office in Munich, which confirmed that the three male suspects were taken into custody during coordinated raids that began at 6 a.m.

The arrests followed extensive police operations targeting six individuals — five men and one woman aged between 40 and 61 — across the German states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. Around 300 officers, including special forces units, participated in the raids, which focused on four properties believed to be linked to the group’s past activities, including weapons training and operational planning.

Authorities say the locations raided are connected to a paramilitary training session that took place in April 2022. According to investigators, the suspects participated in that event with other members of the group at a former German army shooting range near Bayreuth.

Prosecutors allege that the firearms training was designed to prepare participants for an armed attack on the German Bundestag in Berlin — a central part of what is being described as a broader strategy of violent insurrection. Officials view the training as a clear example of the group's paramilitary ambitions and its rejection of democratic institutions.

During August 5 raids, investigators seized weapons-regulated items and electronic data storage devices, which are now undergoing forensic analysis. Authorities hope the materials will help clarify the extent of the suspects’ involvement and determine whether the group received broader logistical or financial support.

The “Reichsbürger” — or “Reich citizens” — are a loose-knit movement of conspiracy theorists and extremists who deny the legitimacy of the modern German state. Though overlapping in part with far-right ideologies, the group is defined by four core beliefs: that the German Reich still exists; that the post-war Federal Republic lacks a valid constitution; that Germany is a corporate entity, not a sovereign state; and that it remains under Allied occupation.

The movement’s central figure, Heinrich XIII Prince Reuß, was arrested in December 2022 alongside several alleged ringleaders. Prosecutors say the group planned to install Reuß as a provisional head of state following a violent government overthrow.

Court proceedings involving 27 suspected leaders of the organization are currently underway in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Munich. Additional suspects remain under investigation. In a separate high-profile case, a court in Koblenz sentenced five members of the group who were convicted of plotting to kidnap former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

Emerging in the 1980s, the Reichsbürger movement includes both organized cells and isolated individuals. Some members refuse to pay taxes, defy court orders, and issue their own fake passports, driver’s licenses, and noble titles. Others have founded so-called “micronations” with names like the “Free State of Prussia” and the “Principality of Germania.”

Long dismissed as eccentric or fringe, the group has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years amid growing signs of radicalization. In 2016, a Reichsbürger adherent fatally shot a police officer during a raid — a turning point that prompted Germany’s domestic intelligence service to begin officially monitoring the movement, citing its escalating links to extremism and violence.

Authorities continue to investigate the latest suspects and examine whether their activities form part of a larger, ongoing threat to democratic institutions in Germany.

By Vafa Guliyeva