What drives the Reichsbürger? “Germany is still occupied territory!”

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  Walter Black

  corresponding Germany

Joachim Widera proudly displays the hall of fame in his office. A small marble bust of Emperor Frederick the Great (1712-1786) stands next to a biography of former Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898). “They both made Germany great,” Widera smiles as she picks up the book. “Bismarck is my great political example: the founder of the Second German Reich”.

An encounter with a Reichsburger (Reichsburger) is like a journey through German history, crossing years, wars and other historical moments at a rapid pace. Navigating between pride in the German past and frustration with the present.

“Because this is still occupied territory!” shouts Widera, pointing her finger. “Although I live on German soil, in what is now the Federal Republic, that is not legitimate.” A discussion begins about the end of World War II, when the Allies had defeated National Socialism and divided Germany. “That was a war crime, international law is very clear about it. The Federal Republic was founded under an occupying power, with a constitution imposed by the occupying forces.”

Widera proudly displays the Hall of Fame in her living room, dedicated to the German Reich:

These are the typical arguments with which the Reich Citizens’ Movement denounces the current German state and argues that the former empire was never officially abolished. Widera, 61, does not feel free. “I want to avenge and correct what happened 70 years ago,” she says. He dismisses the fact that the Federal Republic has held a series of free elections since its foundation in which citizens can determine their own political direction: “People believe only what they want. There are elections even in a dictatorship. Just look at the GDR at the time. German elections are not lawful and do not show a sovereign state.”

Also for this reason, Widera founded his own political party: German future, a remarkably forward-thinking name for a movement that finds it hard to let go of the past. He takes a blue book out of his inside pocket. German Empire He says. A passport. Entirely according to international standards, says Widera, who also shows the interior.

Why go back to that time? The vast majority of Germans have nothing to do with that period, which was the prelude to two devastating world wars. Widera contradicts: “You’re talking about the majority of Germans, but I’ve never seen that confirmed. It’s always the media that says these things, or the government in Berlin that controls the media.”

Allegations that the German public broadcaster and politicians operate side by side and keep each other in the saddle by deception are factually incorrect, but they are often heard in the circles of citizens of the Reich.

Widera is therefore not alone. According to estimates, around 20,000 Germans call themselves citizens of the Reich. This means that the movement has almost doubled in just a few years. An important moment in this was the corona crisis in 2020 and the resulting suspicion of the government. What began as demonstrations against strict lockdown measures have increasingly degenerated into protest marches against the state, which serves only an elite and ignores the common man.

Fueled by conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists on social media channels like Telegram, Germany’s security services have reported rapid radicalisation. In the summer of 2020, this led to an incident in the Bundestag. Dozens of people with red, white and black Reich flags stormed the steps of the parliament building and shouted slogans such as “traitors” and “riot” at the people’s representatives inside.

Investigative journalist Olaf Sundermeyer is therefore not surprised that two years later a plot to forcibly overthrow that same parliament is intercepted. He has been involved in far-right movements in Germany for years and knows personally a number of the suspects arrested last week, including a former soldier. “We’ve known about that corner’s plans for a long time,” says Sundermeyer, “They call it the Great Judgment. To bring people to court or worse. But in public debate, especially in politics, these people have long been dismissed as” crazy”. The opposite is true. They have an extremely good network, knowledge of weapons and connections up to the highest circles, such as the judiciary. “

With the latter, the journalist refers to the also arrested judge Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. Until last year you were still a member of parliament for the radical right-wing opposition party AfD in the same Bundestag that you would now storm. Politicians, lawyers, trained soldiers; the list of suspects in the foiled coup case shows that the Reich Citizens’ Movement is more than a group of people wishing for days gone by.

Yet Joachim Widera does not believe the accusations: “Of course they had weapons, but the question is whether they actually used them. They claim yes, but I suspect not. They were only preparing in case there were unrest among the population. For be able to intervene.”

Widera goes to her personal shrine of the Second German Reich and carefully removes an ancient photo of Paul von Hindenburg from the wall. It is a portrait of the former president and marshal, which has been hung on many German walls in the years following his death. “Gift from my wife,” Widera says, whereupon he turns the gold frame over and points to the National Socialist stamp of authenticity, with a swastika and the year 1940.

Do you really reject violence? “No, if someone hits me on the head and wants to kill, I will answer. But I will not lead the way with weapons. I will lead with words. In the secret services I am known as the most dangerous citizen of the Reich . Not because of my weapons, but because I know talk so well.” Widera laughs at her own joke.