The 72-year-old German prince Heinrich XIII Reuss was indicted along with 26 other people for planning a coup and overthrowing the German parliament.
On Monday, one of three trials begins when the military branch of the group is held accountable.
– These are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and democratic structures, say the prosecutors.
In December 2022, the police struck in a major operation against the organization. Around 3,000 police officers took part in the early morning raid.
The group, which is judged to be part of the far-right Reichsbürger movement, is suspected of having planned a bloody coup d’état, overthrowing the government and seizing the German parliament.
Had a “massive arsenal”
The legal aftermath is described as one of the biggest in German history, reports The Guardian. Therefore, it has been chosen to divide the defendants into three groups and three trials that will be held in different cities.
On Monday, the trial against nine people begins in Stuttgart in southern Germany. The group has been identified as the “military branch” and is facing trial on terrorism charges.
According to the Guardian, the group must have paid around 140,000 euros to a Swiss criminal league for weapons. The prosecutors believe that the group had access to a “massive arsenal of weapons”. The arsenal is said to have consisted of 380 firearms, 350 cutting and stabbing weapons, 500 other types of weapons and 148,000 rounds.
– These are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and democratic structures, say the prosecutors.
Contacted the Russian Consulate
The plans are said to have been to appoint the prince as leader of Germany after the coup and redraw the country’s borders according to the 1937 demarcation. The plans for the violent takeover must have begun in August 2021, according to the Guardian.
Investigators are said to have first observed the group at a meeting in October 2021. The meeting led by Prince Reuss took place in a pub in the town of Helmbrechts in Bavaria. According to the investigators, the prince then wanted international recognition for the state “Duchy of Reuss” in the state of Thuringia.
Hoping to gain international recognition, he will show his Russian girlfriend sought support for it at the Russian Consulate General in Leipzig. According to reports, he allegedly told the consulate that he would “Show that the German wolf and the Russian bear were an unbeatable team”.