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NE-NAZIS AND so-called ‘ Reichsbürger’ — who believe that the German state and its constitution are neither legitimate nor sovereign — attempted to storm the Reichstag last weekend in what the German president called an “attack on the heart of our democracy”.
The far-Right extremists broke away from larger demonstrations held in Berlin on Saturday against measures imposed by the German government designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
After assembling outside the Reichstag, the Reichsbürger broke through a police cordon and ran up the parliament’ssteps,attempting to break into the building.
Fights broke out and police held the demonstrators back using pepper spray before successfully dispersing them.
The Reichsbürger bore the red, white, andblackflagof theoldGermanempire, often flown as a way of circumventing bans on Nazi-era symbols.
That same day, Berlin police also arrested around 200 Reichsbürger and other far-right extremists who had rallied in front of the Russian embassy.
Speaking on Monday, German PresidentFrank-WalterSteinmeierdescribed Saturday’s events as “unconscionable” and “abhorrent...Far-right extremism has deep roots in [German] society. It is a serious threat that must be combatted.”
Reichsbürger believe that Germany continues to be in a state of war with the Allied Powers. Their aim is the restoration of the old German Empire, which they believe never ceased to exist. The movement makes revanchist claims on the territory of other European states.
German domestic intelligence believes there are around 19,000 Reichsbürger and adherents of similar ideologies active in Germany today.
The border between the Reichsbürger movement and the traditional farright — which until the mid-1980s was committed to the Third Reich’s restoration — is porous.
Around 950 Reichsbürger are active participants in Germany’s far-right scene.
ReichsbürgeradheretowhattheAmadeu Antonio Foundation, which monitors Germany’s far-Right, describes as a fundamentally antisemitic worldview.
Those who do not recognize modern Germany’s legitimacy also tend to believe the German state was founded byasmall,powerfuleliteresponsiblefor dictating world affairs. Phrases like “east coast bankers”, “global finance capital”, Zionists, and Rothschilds are all part of Reichsbürger vocabulary.
German intelligence notes the tendency of Reichsbürger to blame Jews for their personal woes like unemployment and, in historical terms, for instigating the First World War. Many Reichsbürger also deny the Holocaust.
In total, around 38,000 people took part in Saturday’s corona-scepticmarches in Berlin, which began peacefully.
However, when demonstrators failed to abide by courtordered guidelines on social distancing, police cut matters short and 300 people were arrested in total.
This weekend’s events confirmed previous fears that coronavirus-related demonstrations in the German-speaking world were being infiltrated by the far-right. The JC reported in May how German authorities feared that political extremists could instrumentalise the corona-sceptic cause.
Organised by the broader Stuttgartbased group “Querdenken 711”, Saturday’sdemonstrationsincludednotonly conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers but also Reichsbürger and members of the far-right political parties like The ThirdPath,theNationalDemocraticParty, and Alternative for Germany.
Reichsburger bore the flag of the old German empire’
Coronavirus demos are being infiltrated by the far-Right’