Self-proclaimed ‘king of Germany’ arrested in plot to overthrow government

The self-styled “king” of Germany and three of his senior “subjects” were arrested for attempting to overthrow the state, according to media reports. 

Peter Fitzek, 59, was taken into police custody during morning raids conducted Tuesday in seven German states, the BBC reported. 

Fitzek’s group, the Reichsbürger, or “citizens of the Reich,” has also been banned by the government. 

Peter Fitzek, the self-proclaimed head of the so-called “Kingdom of Germany,” shows the paper currency he created himself in Wittenberg, Germany, Oct. 23, 2023.  (Jens Schlueter/AFP)

He said the group finances itself through crime. 

Fitzek, who claims to have thousands of “subjects,” denied having violent intentions but also called Germany “destructive and sick.”

In 2022, dozens of people associated with the Reichsbürger were arrested for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin. They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister in an effort to create “civil war conditions” to bring down German democracy, according to the BBC. 

Self-made identity and banking documents of the so-called “Kingdom of Germany” are pictured in Wittenberg, Germany, Oct. 23, 2023. (Jens Schlueter/AFP via Getty Images)

Once dismissed as eccentric by critics, the group is now seen within Germany as a serious threat as the far right has grown politically over the past decade, the report said.