Explained | The Reichsbürger collective, the far-right group that allegedly planned a coup in Germany

A total of 25 people were arrested, including one each in Austria and Italy, and 27 more were identified as suspected members or supporters of the Reichsbürger network.

The story so far: German Police on Wednesday arrested 25 people, including a prince, an ex-lawmaker, and former soldiers, all members of Reichsbürger, that allegedly planned to attack the country’s parliament and overthrow the government.

According to prosecutors, 25 people were arrested, including one each in Austria and Italy, and 27 more were identified as suspected members or supporters of the network.

A group of the self-proclaimed “citizens of the Reich” allegedly spent months preparing for “Day X” – the daythey wanted to execute a coup, Deutsche Welle reported. They had also been holding secret meetings and conducting shooting exercises, the report added.

Reichsbürger loosely translates to “citizens of the Reich”, the German Empire founded in 1871. Followers of the ideology are groups or individuals who do not believe in the post-World War II Federal Republic of Germany and its legal system. According to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), different members have different motives for rejecting the federal republic and vary in their tendency to resort to violent or militant behaviour. Some members believe Germany is still occupied and secretly run by western powers including the U.S., the U.K., and France.

The Reichsbürger movement is not homogenous and consists of groups and individuals with varying beliefs, like far-right views, the superiority of race, and antisemitism. Around 21,000 people throughout Germany were related to the Reichsbürger and Selbstverwalter (self-governors) movements in 2021. 5% of these (around 1,150) are seen as far-right extremists.

According to local media, most Reichsbürger members are concentrated in the States of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria. It is difficult to differentiate between “Reich citizens”, who consider themselves citizens of the German Reich and not the Federal Republic, and self-governors, who claim legal and territorial autonomy and the right to leave the State any point of time. Some people are followers of both ideologies.

Around 74% of Reich citizens and self-governors are males, and most of them are over 40 years of age, BfV reported. Many of them have been working with groups with similar ideologies for years.