Five years after the murder of a police officer by a member of the so-called Reich Citizens’ Movement in Georgensgmünd in Central Franconia (district of Roth), the scene in the Free State has increased again. “The trend that Reich citizens and self-administrators exploit and instrumentalize the pandemic and try to convey their ideology through the related subject areas continued in 2021,” said a spokesman for the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution at the request of the German Press Agency. In their 2020 annual report, the intelligence agencies had already observed more movement in the scene. “Conspiracy theories of ‘Reichsbürgern’ are becoming more widespread as a result of the Corona crisis,” the security authorities had stated at the end of last year.
New this year is the phenomenon that so-called Reich citizens are trying to use the school dropout caused by Corona for their own purposes and to set up private study groups with their ideology. “Reichsbürger” and self-administrators are spreading fake news about the causes, the spread and the consequences of the corona pandemic, which are interwoven with elements of conspiracy theory, “says the constitution protection report. “They claim, for example, that Covid-19 is a disease developed on purpose with the aim of decimating the world’s population.”
Throughout Bavaria, the police headquarters saw for 4130 people reliable indications of belonging to the “Reichsbürger” scene. This means that after a decline, the level from before 2019 has been reached again. However, the Police Headquarters in Middle Franconia does not see any increase in acts of violence. Most recently, a man who is assigned to the scene set fire to his property in Büchenbach (Roth district) and killed himself after an eviction had pending. Overall, there are a number of people who try to paralyze the offices through frequent correspondence. Bailiffs ask police protection if evictions are due in the scene. “Usually it is enough if we are present,” said a spokesman for the police headquarters.
“Reich Citizens” are adherents of an ideology who reject the Federal Republic – often out of displeasure with politics and the state – and regard themselves as citizens of a German Reich. Her ideas are considered to be right-wing, but connections to the right-wing extremist scene could only be proven in individual cases. Ideologically related are so-called self-administrators, who proclaim their own states around their property and equip themselves with fantasy flags and fantasy coats of arms. Often the members are armed – ostensibly to protect their “national territory”.
On October 19, 2016, a then 49-year-old shot at a police raid in Georgensgmünd in Central Franconia. One policeman died as a result of gunshot wounds and others were injured. The shooter was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and attempted murder. There had also been rumors within the police. An officer was accused of having chat contacts with the man and of not having passed on his information to the police.