This morning, the Waidmannsheil hunting lodge sits enthroned in the gentle winter sun on its hill near Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia. But there is a state of emergency all around. The castle is cordoned off over a wide area. Masked police officers are combing the property and the adjacent forest in search chains and with long poles. It will probably take a while. Toilets and supply vans are set up for the emergency services.
The castle is - like many other places in several federal states - the scene of one of the largest anti-terrorist operations in the history of the Federal Republic. The property is listed in the Bad Lobenstein business directory as the seat of Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuss
The accusation of the federal prosecutor's office: Formation of a "terrorist organization that has set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with its own form of government that has already been worked out in outline". Henry XIII Prince Reuss is listed as a "ringleader". According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, he was considered "the association's future head of state".
part of the network
The 71-year-old was arrested this Wednesday along with 24 suspected comrades-in-arms, but not in Thuringia, but at his home in Frankfurt am Main. But the accused is also known in the Free State. Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) sees him as part of a Thuringian "Reichsbürger" network. "You can say that he plays a role here," says the minister.
The incumbent mayor of Bad Lobenstein, Klaus Möller (left), "knows that he is included in this scene". Möller himself took over the post after a confused incident that also involved Henry XIII. Prince Reuss is associated. The previous mayor, Thomas Weigelt, was removed from office after allegedly attacking a newspaper reporter in mid-August. A video shows Henry XIII. Prince Reuss standing at a nearby table during the incident. According to media reports, the Reuss family then distanced themselves from the relative.
Henry XIII Prince Reuss has already attracted attention in the past with crude theses. In 2019 he spoke as a speaker at the "Worldwebforum" and claimed, among other things, that Germany has not been a sovereign state since the Second World War, but is administered by the Allies.
Scene enormously active in Thuringia
State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, says the 71-year-old is "extraordinarily active" in Thuringia. The Reich citizen scene in Thuringia, on the other hand, is very active and full of energy. Kramer points to connections to other right-wing groups, including country chief Björn Höcke's AfD. In Thuringia, it was seen "that "Reich citizens", AfD and subcultural right-wing extremists appeared on various "walks" and Monday demonstrations".
Many groups in the scene were now working together. It is clear who is in charge: "This is the AfD and people like the prince," says Kramer. When asked, AfD country chief Höcke only says this much: Kramer is a government official who "can be fired by the minister at any time, is bound by instructions and, in my opinion, nothing more than a tool of (Interior Minister) Maier".
The Thuringia Office for the Protection of the Constitution for 2020 speaks of 740 supporters of the Reich citizen scene in the state. The member of parliament Katharina König-Preuss (left) has been dealing with right-wing extremism for years, including the activities of the terrorist group NSU. "Thuringia has been a retreat for rich citizen structures for years," she says. She welcomes the fact that the authorities are now intervening nationwide, as does her party colleague Möller, the incumbent mayor of Bad Lobenstein. After the raid on the hunting lodge, he says: "My first reaction: It's about time."
