A nostalgic prince of the Reich, a far-right judge versed in astrology, and former army officers. A total of nine defendants will appear in court in Frankfurt from Tuesday on charges of hatching an incredible plot to overthrow the German government by force. The discovery of this planned putsch at the end of 2022 stunned Germany.
20 minutes takes stock of this astonishing story mixed with conspiracy and suspicions of Russian interference.
What are the members of the conspiracy accused of?
Most of the accused are accused of “participation in a terrorist group” which had “set itself the objective of eliminating state order by force” and of “preparing an act of high treason”. The members of the conspiracy planned to invade the chamber of deputies – the Bundestag – in Berlin to arrest the elected officials there and bring down the government.
Once the putsch was successful, the conspirators wanted to temporarily install at the head of the country a 72-year-old aristocrat and businessman: Heinrich XIII, known as Prince Reuss and descendant of a noble family which once reigned over vast areas of the region. from Thuringia, in eastern Germany. It was in particular in his castle of Bad Lobenstein that clandestine meetings were held.
The network had given itself the means to achieve its ambitions and was armed to the teeth. Investigators discovered that he had “around 500,000 euros” at his disposal, as well as an “arsenal of around 380 firearms, nearly 350 bladed weapons as well as 500 other weapons and at least 148,000 rounds of ammunition”. “It was clear to the members that the takeover in preparation would involve the death of people,” say the police.
A first trial began at the end of April in Stutggart for nine other protagonists and the rest of the gang must be tried in Munich from June 18.
Who are the protagonists?
- Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss is suspected of being the main instigator of the coup preparations. Coming from a family of six children, he trained as an engineer, but earned his living in real estate. He lives in Frankfurt. Some members of his family distanced themselves from Heinrich XIII Reuss. The current head of the princely house of Reuss told AFP last year that he was considered the “black sheep of the family”. Heinrich XIII Reuss had already attracted attention with his fanciful theories. In a rambling speech at a conference in Zurich in 2019, he referred to the “so-called Federal Republic of Germany” and claimed the country had been ruled by the Allies since the end of World War II. worldwide.
- Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was tipped to become the group’s “Minister of Justice”. Investigators believe the 59-year-old divorced mother of two helped the group plan an armed attack. During the search of his apartment, police found several weapons as well as large stocks of food, according to German media. Furthermore, according to the newspaper Die Zeit, the MP called on an astrologer during her mandate. The latter is also among the suspects in the coup d’état.
- Rudiger von Pescatore, 70 years old, a former commander of the German army accused by the prosecution of having co-founded this “terrorist group”, was expected to take charge of the army after the coup. He began his career as a paratrooper before becoming lieutenant-colonel and then commander of the parachute battalion. According to Die Zeit, he gained attention in the army by teaching old Nazi songs or by whimsical behavior, such as when an army helicopter dropped him off at his home for coffee. But Pescatore’s military career came to an abrupt end in the mid-1990s, when he was convicted of diverting weapons from old Army stockpiles.
What is their delusional ideology?
Considered “the biggest affair targeting state security in recent history” of Germany, according to the weekly Der Spiegel, the investigation plunges into “the bizarre and delusional world” of a group nourished “on Internet myths, hatred and belief in cosmic forces”. They are particularly influenced by the ideology of the “Reichsbürger” [citoyens du Reich] a heterogeneous movement which denies the Federal Republic of Germany any legitimacy.
According to federal prosecutors, the defendants claim that Germany is dominated by a “conspiratorial sect of pedophile elites.” An ideology also reminiscent of the QAnon conspiracy movement in the United States and its “Pizzagate”, denouncing pedophile elites.
What is Moscow doing in this?
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the Russian Vitalia B., companion of Prince Reuss and prosecuted for her part by the courts for having supported the group, would have “put him in contact […] with the Consulate General of Russia in Leipzig and accompanied him there in June 2022.”
He sought to secure the support of the Russian authorities, even if at the time of the dismantling of the cell, the Kremlin had – as usual – denied any interference.