Reich citizens | Royal or criminal?

Peter Fitzek (M.), "supreme sovereign" of the "Kingdom of Germany", in the courtroom Photo: dpa/Oliver Berg The trial hasn't even started yet when the king is holding court for the first time. Peter Fitzek, founder and self-proclaimed "supreme sovereign" of the Reichsbürger sect "Kingdom of Germany", which was banned in 2025, enjoys the cameras trained on him in the high-security hall of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. The 61-year-old tells the assembled press that the accusation is “nonsensical” and that his pre-trial detention is “contrary to human rights.” At the same time, he takes file after file out of a blue garbage bag.

Since Friday, the man with the high forehead, the thin braid and the unshakable sense of mission has had to answer before the State Security Senate. The federal prosecutor's office accuses him and three co-defendants of being the top management of the "Kingdom of Germany" (KRD), which was founded in Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 2012. And therefore: ringleader of a criminal organization.

The KRD was a “counter-state aimed at tax, economic and documentary offenses” against the Federal Republic of Germany, says the senior public prosecutor, whose ironic name is Kaiser. “The KRD,” says Ingo Kaiser, “pursued the long-term goal of expanding its territory into the territory of the Empire of 1871.”

For the time being, the national territory where the laws of the Federal Republic should not apply was limited to a handful of properties - and to around 700 companies nationwide that declared themselves part of the "kingdom" via notices. Some still operate that way today. The KRD had at least three castle-like properties in Saxony and a dilapidated hotel in the Harz Mountains.

Fitzek took the money he needed from his “people,” which according to him recently numbered around 6,000 people, in a variety of ways. “Seminars on exiting the system” were available for 374 euros, identification documents for 440 euros, and a bust of Peter Fitzek for 300 euros. He promised companies that they would be able to evade German taxes and duties if they joined the KRD. According to the Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, he had such a “change” paid for up to 24,000 euros.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office primarily accuses the trained chef and his co-defendants of running a "Royal Reichsbank" - most recently under the label "Gemeinwohlkasse", with branches in Dresden, Ulm, Menden and Lutherstadt Wittenberg - as well as a health and accident insurance company. Without permission, of course. In total, the KRD earned around ten million euros from 2020 to 2025. In addition, around two million euros in taxes and social security contributions were evaded. The prosecution considers the issuing of ID cards that the “Kingdom” issued as an alternative to ID cards to be a forgery of documents.

In court, Fitzek speaks of himself in the pluralis majestatis as "We" and still considers himself to be "Peter I," the rightful sovereign of his kingdom. However, dismissing the convicted perpetrator, who has been convicted several times, as a crackpot and profiteer is not enough. The right-wing esoteric guru and advocate of anti-Semitic conspiracy myths has long been at home in the far-right milieu. He made propaganda videos with a convicted Holocaust denier, is friendly with the right-wing extremist Free Saxony group and was visited by AfD member of the Bundestag Christina Baum while in custody. She then stated that she hoped for an acquittal. »Our country needs such innovative minds more than ever.«

Fitzek is defended by, among others, the lawyer and publicist Björn Clemens, who is known for defending right-wing extremists and is himself a member of the political extreme right. At the start of the trial he spoke of an “abuse of the Code of Criminal Procedure for political goals”. His lawyer colleague Christin Konrad, who had defended co-defendant Martin S. and also represented Fitzek, reacted completely differently: with a prayer. "My beloved divine spark," she cried in a trembling voice. »Please ensure that love and freedom win in the end.«

A good 50 days of negotiations are scheduled for the process until September 2027.

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