Federal Prosecutor's Office indicts four suspected leaders of the "Kingdom of Germany"

The structure of the "Kingdom"

The "Kingdom of Germany" (KRD) was founded in September 2012 and regarded itself as a sovereign state. Its aim, it claimed, was to extend the alleged "national territory" to the borders of the German Empire as of 1871. So-called Reichsbürger and self-administrators do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany as a state. They reject democratic and constitutional structures such as parliament, laws, or courts.

The association had accordingly promoted "exiting the system of the Federal Republic of Germany and joining the KRD ("Kingdom of Germany")," the Federal Prosecutor's Office further stated. Members were to be exempt from tax and social contribution obligations. In 2022, the KRD reportedly acquired several properties in Lower Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony.

The properties were used for residential and settlement purposes as well as for business activities such as "system exit seminars." The "Kingdom" financed itself, according to earlier statements by the authorities, primarily through prohibited banking and deposit business as well as through donations and revenues from seminars.

Ban and arrests in May 2025

A so-called "E-Mark" (for digital payments) or "New German Mark" (for cash payments) corresponded to 1.10 euros. According to its own statements, the KRD had 6,000 supporters at the time, although the security authorities assumed rather around 1,000 supporters.

On May 13, 2025, Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) banned the at the time largest grouping of so-called Reichsbürger and self-administrators. On the same day, the Federal Prosecutor's Office searched buildings nationwide and arrested four suspected ringleaders in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, and Brandenburg.

The larger Reichsbürger scene

The entire scene of Reichsbürger and self-administrators is, according to the assessment of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, significantly larger than the KRD alone. The scene had approximately 26,000 members in 2024. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution assumes there are around 30 such groups active across state borders.

Next steps in court

The indictment now lies before the State Protection Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. This court must decide whether to admit the indictment for trial and when a trial will begin. Until then, the four defendants remain in pretrial detention.