Guns and swords in German coup plotters’ arsenal

Weapons discovered in more than 50 raids after ‘dangerous’ monarchist putsch attempt was foiled

GERMAN police have seized crossbows, firearms and night-vision goggles in dozens of raids linked to a foiled farright coup plot to reinstall a monarchy.

Weapons and munitions were found at more than 50 addresses, Holger Münch, the head of Germany’s federal crime agency, confirmed yesterday.

“We’ve found weapons from a cross bow up to guns and munitions. That shows that this isn’t harmless,” Mr Münch told broadcaster ARD. He assured Germans that the plot stood no chance of success but described it as “dangerous” and said “now is the time to see just how far they got”.

A report in Der Spiegel magazine said the confiscated gear included pistols, swords, stun guns, combat helmets, night-vision devices and service weapons belonging to two police officers.

German investigators are also said to have found large quantities of gold and silver after Wednesday’s arrests of 25 people, many of whom were pensioners, who are accused of forming a terror cell and planning the bizarre coup.

In one of many strange details, one of those arrested was Frank Heppner, a famous chef who is based in the luxury Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuhel.

Mr Heppner was allegedly given responsibility for organising the menu in the canteens of the group’s newly established kingdom, as well as organising food for its troops.

Mr Heppner’s daughter is the longterm girlfriend of David Alaba, Real Madrid football star, who also captains Austria’s national team.

Prosecutors have said that some of the group had “concrete plans” to storm the Reichstag government building and were prepared to kill to achieve their goal of installing a new monarchical regime and reviving a German Empire last seen in 1918.

A detective in the investigation described the plan to Die Welt newspaper as “a horror scenario that has never existed in this form in Germany”.

Many of the plotters are believed to belong to the Citizens of the Reich movement, a loose organisation of some 20,000 people who think that Germany should return to the era of the Kaiser.

While this movement was long dismissed as an assortment of oddballs and conspiracy theorists, prosecutors say that the group’s seriousness should not be underestimated.

They point out that several German army officers, both retired and serving, were involved and that they specifically targeted soldiers and police officers for recruitment to their ranks.

The plotters had already set up a proto-government, in which cabinet posts had already been handed out, as well as having a military wing.

Meanwhile, a video has emerged that shows one of the plotters hinting that he expected the coup attempt to take place before Christmas.

Maximilian Eder, a former army colonel, told followers on the Telegram social media platform that an “upheaval” would come in the next few weeks, adding that he “very much hopes it happens before Christmas.”

At the head of the alleged conspiracy was Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, the great-grandson of the head of a minor royal princedom that existed in central Germany up until the dissolution of the empire after the First World War.

The spectacular arrests are the latest sign of radicalisation among the quixotic mix of anti-vaxxers, esoterics and Kaiser nostalgics who first came together to demonstrate against pandemic measures.

In October, police arrested a 75-yearold woman who, they allege, was the ringleader of a clandestine plan to kidnap Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s health minister.

‘We’ve found weapons from a cross bow up to guns and munitions. That shows this isn’t harmless’