Alleged armed coup plotters go on trial in Germany
Nine men accused of being members of an armed group plotting to overthrow the German state went on trial in Stuttgart on Monday, facing charges related to trying to replace Germany’s chancellor with an eccentric pseudo-aristocrat.
All nine were charged with high treason, membership of a terrorist group and attempted murder as part of the bizarre coup attempt that was scuppered by German police in a series of raids in 2022.
A court in Stuttgart heard that the men were members of a “military wing” supporting coup figurehead Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, 72, a self-proclaimed German aristocrat.
As proceedings began, German police hid the suspects’ faces from television cameras inside the courtroom and they were seen shaking their heads as the charges were read out.
One of the suspects is also facing an attempted murder charge, having shot several times at police commandos when he was arrested during a raid in March last year. The defendants were all aged between 42 and 60.
The hearing in Stuttgart was held under tight security, with bulletproof glass installed to protect judges and prosecutors.
The trial is the first of three processing the so-called Reichsburger (”reich citizens”) coup attempt, organised by a group of radical eccentrics and conspiracy theorists who deny the legitimacy of the German state and wish to return to rule under a Kaiser.
Mr Reuss, or Heinrich XIII, would supposedly have been installed as Germany’s new leader if the coup had succeeded, at which point top German officials including Olaf Scholz, the country’s chancellor, would have been tried by military courts and executed.
Mr Reuss is a conspiracy theorist, property developer and former sparkling wine producer who claims to descend from the 12th-century Reuss dynasty.
The three trials form one of the biggest and most complex cases in German legal history and are expected to run for at least two years.
Mr Reuss is due to appear in court in Frankfurt in May along with eight other suspects who are considered ringleaders, with a third trial in Munich due to open in June.
Reichsburger members believe that the German empire founded in 1871, and its Kaiser, remain as the legitimate ruling power over Germany.
Prosecutors have said that the suspects also believe Germany’s modern state is run by a “conspiratorial sect of paedophile-elites” in league with a secretive Illuminati-like society that governs other major powers such as Russia and the United States.
In total, 26 suspects – who according to prosecutors were ready to die for their cause – are being charged during the three forthcoming trials. A 27th suspect has died.
German media reports said that the trials will be enormously complex, with seven judges to preside over the Stuttgart case alone, which will examine 700 folders of evidence and involve more than 20 lawyers.
