Germany news: Trial of alleged 'Reichsbürger' group ringleaders begins
Four members of the banned far-right "Kingdom of Germany" are on trial for belonging to a criminal organization. Meanwhile, a new study warns data centers could lead to water stress in Germany. Follow DW for more.
Four alleged ringleaders of the banned far-right Kingdom of Germany (KRD) group are set to face the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court on Friday. The KRD, a conspiracy theorist movement rejecting the legitimacy of modern Germany, was banned in May 2025 after a decade of monitoring. The four defendants, including group leader Peter Fitzek, are charged with membership in a criminal organization and offenses like document forgery and tax evasion, totaling millions of euros.
Prosecutors allege the group aimed to replace Germany with their own system, creating pseudo-state structures such as a banking and insurance system, and a registration office that issued fake IDs. Police raids in May 2025 seized evidence of the group's anti-constitutional activities and land acquisitions with the goal of reducing Germany's territory to that of the German Empire of 1871.
Fitzek and co-defendants are accused of seeking to expand their purported territory to the borders of the German Empire of 1871.
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