A high-profile trial against members of a far-right group accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the German government will begin in Frankfurt on May 21, amid concerns about growing “extremism” ahead of European and national elections. .
Leaders of the so-called “Reichsbuerger” movement are expected to take the stand on Tuesday to plan in 2022 to restore the pre-World War I German empire and “forcibly eliminate the existing state order.”
The alleged plot – the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence – has raised concerns about growing support for radical ideologies.
While experts say the threat of a coup in Germany remains negligible, the trial comes at a time when Germany's far-right is doing well in June's European elections and national elections in 2025, which could give you a new launching pad to expand. its influence.
Who are the members of the “Reichsbuerger” movement?
The Reichsbuerger (“Citizens of the Reich”) movement is largely seen as an eclectic mix of monarchy supporters and conspiracy theorists with a few thousand followers. German authorities say, however, that the movement has access to a large arsenal of weapons and is willing to kill to take over the parliament building in Berlin.
A former member of parliament from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, currently expected to come second in next year's federal election, is also suspected of having been in his inner circle.
The movement centers on the belief that the pre-World War I German Reich or empire has been usurped by modern political structures. As a result, it does not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany, its laws or its institutions and instead claims the 1937 borders of the former German empire.
Often compared to the QAnon movement, the Reichsbuerger group espouses a mix of conspiracy theories, including the belief that the Federal Republic is not a state but a private company, and that Germany is still under occupation by the Allies. Therefore, a secret international alliance must take on the task of liberating it from the “deep state.”
German authorities believe the Reichsbuerger movement is led by Prince Henry XIII Reuss, a German businessman and former aristocrat who has spread anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. The coup plotters intended to install Reuss as head of state after he took power.
Suspected members include former AfD parliamentarian Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, who was to be appointed justice minister, and a former special forces soldier, identified as Andreas M, accused of using his access to explore army barracks .
How is the trial organized?
The proceedings are divided between three courts in three cities. In total, 26 people are accused of belonging to the hardline network.
As part of the first set of proceedings opened in the sprawling court case, nine men appeared in court in Stuttgart on April 29 for allegedly being part of the group's “military arm.”
The second of the three cases is the most anticipated due to the prominent role of the accused in the frustrated coup. Reuss will appear at the Frankfurt court on Tuesday, along with other senior suspects.
Seven men and two women (Reuss's Russian girlfriend and former AfD MP Malsack-Winkemann) are on trial in this trial, which is expected to continue at least until January 2025.
A third trial in Munich will deal with eight more defendants accused of serving as the conspiracy's steering council, which would have been tasked with forming a cabinet after the coup.
The alleged coup plotters face sentences of between one and 10 years if convicted. A man, identified as Markus L, could be sentenced to life in prison for shooting at police officers during his arrest.
Is Germany at risk of a new coup attempt?
German police arrested most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022, before they could deploy what federal prosecutors said was a “huge arsenal of weapons.”
“The risk of a new coup in Germany is quite low,” Samuel Clowes Huneke, a historian of modern Europe at George Mason University, told Al Jazeera. “Coup attempts of this nature are far less dangerous than far-right attempts to work through the democratic system.”
Next month's European Parliament elections are expected to see a significant shift to the right in many countries, with radical right-wing populist parties likely to form a coalition that could have important consequences for European politics.
In Germany, the far-right AfD is expected to become the second-largest party in the federal elections in October 2025. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is expected to be the largest party.
The AfD's popularity has remained stable despite revelations that senior party members attended a “secret” meeting in November where mass deportations of citizens of foreign origin were allegedly discussed. Earlier this month, a German court found enough evidence to justify classifying the party as “extremist” and a threat to democracy.
Huneke stressed that, although the AfD movement and the Reichsbuerger were two different realities (the former did not share the latter's monarchical nostalgia and most of its conspiracy theories), their xenophobic ideology overlapped in the desire to keep Germany for the Germans. and rethink how the former Nazi country commemorates the Holocaust.
The normalization of the far right in national settings across Europe also raises fears of inclusion of more extreme groups, including a “long-simmering pan-European movement to try to restore monarchies to power,” Huneke said.
Therefore, elections, rather than armed coups, appear to be the greatest risk for modern democracies, the historian said. “21st century authoritarians have realized that it is not very popular to compete against democracy like the fascists did in the 1920s and 1930s,” Huneke said.
He cited Hungary and Russia as examples. “What we might see over time is a 'managed democracy,' which has all the attributes of democracy but control of key institutions that allows the ruling party to continue to do well,” Huneke said.
“It is a much more subtle way of erecting quasi-dictatorships that over time can become much more dictatorial.”
