German authorities on Tuesday arrested Peter Fitzek, the self-declared “King of Germany,” and three of his senior associates, in sweeping raids targeting a far-right group accused of plotting to overthrow the state and establish an alternative government.
The crackdown involved more than 800 security personnel across seven federal states. It culminated in the formal ban of Fitzek’s organization, known as the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich), by Germany’s Interior Ministry.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused the group of “undermining the rule of law” through a network of economic crimes and antisemitic conspiracy theories that sought to legitimize their parallel state—Königreich Deutschland(Kingdom of Germany).
“The group not only defies the constitutional order but also seeks to dismantle democratic governance by replacing it with its own authoritarian structure,” Dobrindt said in a statement.
Fitzek, 59, a former chef and karate instructor, has styled himself “Peter the First” since proclaiming his “kingdom” in 2012. At the time, he staged a coronation ceremony complete with ermine robes and a medieval sword. He has since amassed land and property across the country, created his own currency, and issued unofficial ID cards. He claims to have thousands of loyal “subjects.”
The Reichsbürger movement, estimated to have around 25,000 followers, rejects the legitimacy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Officials say the group includes more than 2,500 potentially violent individuals, with 1,350 identified as right-wing extremists. Many of its members are known to possess illegal weapons, leading to prior confrontations with law enforcement.
Fitzek has a history of legal troubles, often in open defiance of German law. He has previously served time in jail for driving without a license—an act he repeated in front of a courthouse after one trial as a symbolic protest.
Though he told the BBC in a 2022 interview that he harbored no violent intent, Fitzek denounced the German state as “fascist and satanic,” calling it “destructive and sick.”
Tuesday’s arrests come amid growing concerns over the radicalization of far-right groups in Germany. In 2022, dozens of Reichsbürger were arrested for plotting a violent coup, which allegedly included plans to kidnap the health minister and stage a civil war to collapse the democratic system.
In the past, groups like Reichsbürger were often dismissed as fringe movements. But as right-wing extremism gains momentum across Germany, security services now view them as a serious threat to national stability.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe, Fitzek acted as the group’s “supreme sovereign,” exerting full control over its operations. The group, it stated, aims to restore Germany’s territorial borders to those of the 1871 German Empire, positioning itself as a sovereign entity under international law.
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