The prince and the coup plot: How German 'Reichsbürger' came to trial
A high-profile trial linked to a far-right coup plot in Germany is set to begin on Tuesday, with nine people, including alleged ringleader Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, standing trial in Frankfurt.
They are accused of having been members of or having supported a terrorist organization that had been preparing to topple Germany's democratically elected government.
Here's a chronology of events and the prosecutors' case against them, from the organization's beginnings to the alleged plans to storm the parliament building in Berlin and the current major terrorist trials.
July 2021
A terrorist organization is founded by suspected members of the "Reichsbürger" network. So-called "Reich Citizens" believe that the modern German republic illegitimately replaced the German Reich that was founded in 1871 and continued under the Nazi regime until 1945. They reject the legitimacy of Germany's modern federal state and its laws.
The new group's aim is to violently replace the current state order with its own form of government. The alleged ringleader is 72-year-old Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss.
August 2021
The organization starts planning the coup, including storming the parliament building in Berlin with an armed group to arrest German lawmakers. The group also begins recruiting military personnel, procuring equipment and organizing weapons training. From mid-April 2022, a smaller circle of the group continues with the coup preparations.
September 2022
The terrorist group's plan is to storm the parliament building with up to 16 people. The former Berlin judge and former lawmaker from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, shows some of her fellow coup plotters around the government district, according to documents from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
One of the participants takes photos and videos of the Paul Löbe building - which houses the offices and meeting rooms of lawmakers - as well as underground tunnels leading to other buildings, including the parliament, and the interior of the plenary chamber of the Bundestag.
December 2022
In one of the largest police operations against extremists in Germany, a total of 25 suspected Reichsbürger are arrested on December 7. The federal prosecutor's office accuses them of having formed a terrorist organization. In addition to ringleader Prince Reuss, the detainees include Malsack-Winkemann and a soldier from the Special Forces Command (KSK) of the German Armed Forces.
May 2023
The number of suspects rises to 63. Twenty-six men and women suspected of having been part of the group around Reuss are held in custody.
August 2023
Security authorities seize weapons and ammunition amid the investigations into the group, including 362 firearms, 347 cutting and stabbing weapons and tens of thousands of pieces of ammunition.
December 2023
On December 11, 2023, the federal prosecutor's office brings charges against 18 people before the Higher Regional Courts of Frankfurt and Munich. The accusations include membership of or support for a terrorist organization and preparation of a highly treasonous enterprise. In addition, charges of attempted murder are brought against nine other people before the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court.
March 2024
One defendant from the group, only named as Norbert G. under Germany's strict privacy laws, dies in hospital ahead of the start of the trial. He was arrested on December 7, 2022, but had been spared detention since the beginning of January 2024, reportedly due to illness.
April 2024
The first trial against alleged conspirators surrounding Reuss begins in Stuttgart. It is the first of three mammoth trials involving members of the group and one of the largest terror trials in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The trial starting on Tuesday and involving Reuss himself is the second, and another is due to begin in Munich.
