A German court said Friday it had handed jail terms to three members of an extremist group that plotted to provoke “circumstances akin to civil war” and overthrow the government.
The trio adhered to the ideology of the “Reichsbuerger” (Citizens of the Reich) movement of conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic and were found to have radicalised during the Covid pandemic.
The Munich court said it had handed a sentence of two years and three months to 62-year-old Rainer S., who was found guilty of membership in a terrorist organisation named in court as the “Imperial Group”.
Two other men, 71-year-old Joachim K. and 60-year-old Achim M., were found guilty of supporting the group and received suspended sentences of one year and nine months and one year and four months respectively.
All three were also found of complicity in “preparing an act of high treason” in the trial, one of numerous court proceedings against groups linked to the Reichsbuerger.
Presiding judge Jochen Boesl described the group as “exotic” and said it was “more than questionable” as to whether their plot ever had a chance of succeeding.
Nevertheless, the conspiracy was a criminal offence, he said.
“Everyone is free to be as mad as they please, but the line is crossed when the use of armed violence is planned,” Boesl said, according to a court statement.
The group, which was dismantled in 2022, had earlier also plotted to kidnap then health minister Karl Lauterbach, at the time a figure of scorn for many opponents of Covid restrictions.
Boesl described the hearings as a study into “the after-effects of the coronavirus pandemic”, and the court said the men had developed “scepticism towards the restrictions that came with the pandemic”.
This had then turned into a broader “rejection of the state and then a willingness to actively fight the order of the German republic”, the court found.
As part of their plan, the men had planned to sabotage the country’s power grid and provoke civil unrest.
Their eventual goal was to return to the system established under the German Empire from 1871.
Prosecutors said the group had held discussions on what would happen after their planned coup, with Rainer S. expressing interest in becoming environment minister.
Joachim K., designated as the future minister for public works, was the administrator of chat groups and had penned a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Long dismissed by critics as malcontents and oddballs, Reichsbuerger have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.
There were around 26,000 Reichsbuerger in Germany in 2024, according to the domestic intelligence agency BfV.
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