Nine accused of far-right plot to overthrow German government go on trial

Nine suspected members of a far-right group plotting to restore the German Reich and install a minor royal as leader faced trial at a high-security courtroom.

Nine suspected members of a German far-right group accused of plotting to overthrow the government and install a minor royal as leader went on trial at a high-security courtroom in Stuttgart on Monday. Prosecutors will open their case against individuals tied to the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) movement. In all, 27 people face charges, including high treason and belonging to a terror organization, but they will be tried in three separate courtrooms in different cities. The plot to overthrow the government and install martial law was exposed in 2022. The nine defendants in court on Monday — including former soldiers and judges, as well as a member of parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — are accused of participating in the “military arm” of the Reichsbürger, which espouses conspiracy-based theories regarding sovereignty and rejects the concept of the post-war German state. The three trials together, across Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich, account for one of the biggest anti-terror cases in Germany’s modern history. Businessman Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss allegedly led the plot. The defendants were believed to have planned the resurrection of the German Reich through violence, storming the German Bundestag — the national parliament — and kidnapping the country’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is a descendant of the House of Reuss, the former ruling family of parts of eastern Germany.