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The ideology of the group around Henry XIII. Prince Reuss was not only composed of “Reichsbürger” views. Some followers apparently believed in delusional conspiracy stories.
Within the supposedly terrorist “Reich Citizens” association around Henry XIII. Prince Reuss heard stories about “lizard people”, a dark “elite” and alleged systematic child abuse. These conspiracy narratives are tied to the “QAnon” ideology. Several alleged leaders of the group apparently believed in these theories, as one guest at a meeting said NDR magazine Panorama 3 describes.
When several of the group’s alleged leading figures met in a café in Bochum in November 2022, the investigations against Prince Reuss and his alleged co-conspirators were in full swing. Officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office observed the meeting.
Obscure theses
Björn Lars Oberndorf, a former police officer and chairman of the “Police Officers for Reconnaissance” association, which was founded during the Corona period and is critical of the government measures to combat the pandemic, was also invited. Michael Fritsch invited him. Police officer Fritsch was suspended from duty in August 2020 because he made anti-state comments during Corona protests. The investigators place the meeting in Bochum in a series of other “recruitment events” by the group.
The conversation in the Bochum café was about “reptiles” – i.e. lizard people – Oberndorf says in the interview Panorama 3. “Obscure theories,” he said. Participants said at the time that children were being tortured in underground military facilities. Oberndorf says he was shocked by these theories.
However, he had already noticed that his former colleague Fritsch was “more intensively concerned with certain topics”. “You can also see this in certain messages that he sent to me via Telegram,” said the ex-police officer. It was often about ritual violence against children or “satanic violence”.
At least in parts of the association there was apparently a widespread belief in underground military facilities in which organized child abuse by state authorities took place. The investigators also discovered this when they tapped the group members’ phones and analyzed data storage devices. In a tunnel system of these “Deep Underground Military Bases”, or DUMBs for short, the “Reptiloids” would torture and murder children – according to the obscure theory.
Lists of names of alleged culprits
Politicians and other sections of the “elites” would be behind this alleged systematic child abuse. The investigators found a list of names of employees of the Swiss health system and doctors there as well as a list of German politicians and media representatives from a suspected leading member of the group. Handwritten notes were noted for individual names: one person allegedly tortured and killed in the tunnels, another brought babies there.
Behind these theories is the conspiracy narrative “QAnon”, which emerged in the USA around 2017. The core elements of this “QAnon” ideology are the belief in a “deep state” – i.e. dark forces that stand behind representatives of the states – and a legend of ritual murders of children. During the corona pandemic, “QAnon” stories also spread rapidly in Germany, says political scientist Joschua Helmer from the Göttingen Institute for Democracy Research.
“During this time, conspiracy narratives particularly served to cast doubt on the democratic legitimacy of the measures by saying that they were not taken democratically at all.” Conspiracy narratives like “QAnon” have fulfilled a need in parts of the population “for simple explanations for this crisis situation,” said Helmer.
Police officer probably expected alien intervention
One of the suspected co-conspirators of the group around Prince Reuss even claimed to have fought as a soldier in the underground military facilities. This man was also at the meeting in Bochum. According to the ex-police officer Oberndorf, it was also supposed to be a “Day X”, i.e. a day of upheaval. Only Michael Fritsch and his colleagues did not want to bring about this upheaval, but rather it was supposed to be initiated from “outside” – possibly by an extraterrestrial “alliance”.
After the conversation in Bochum, Oberndorf did not believe that the group posed a danger, as he said in a conversation with NDR insured. Oberndorf himself is being listed as a witness by the authorities in the complex of proceedings; he is not considered a suspect.
Michael Fritsch has now been charged with membership in a terrorist organization and with preparing a treasonous undertaking – i.e. a coup. His defense attorney Ivan Künnemann explains to the NDRthat Fritsch had only made preparations for a “Day X” that would come from “outside”. “Mr Fritsch expected such an event.”
According to his own statement, Fritsch did not plan or promote a coup in any form, his defense attorney continued. A defense attorney for the alleged ringleader, Prince Reuss, was opposite NDR, WDR and “Süddeutscher Zeitung” also denied the allegations. His client did not want to take action on “Day X”.
A decision on whether to admit the charges is pending
The higher regional courts in Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Munich must now decide whether to admit the charges against the 27 alleged members and supporters of the association. The public prosecutor’s offices in Stuttgart, Munich, Jena, Celle and Dresden are investigating 42 other suspects.