The number of extremists who reject the legitimacy of the German government has increased by more than 50 per cent in the space of a year, the country’s domestic intelligence agency said.
The BfV said in its annual report today that the ‘Reichsbuerger’ movement had increased to about 16,500 people by the end of last year from about 10,000 in 2016.
The Reichsbuerger – or Reich Citizens – movement refuses to accept the rules of post-war Germany.
Its adherents often clash with officials and police and many refuse to pay taxes to the federal government.
The movement is extremely diverse, with its adherents often sharing little more in common than a fundamental rejection of the Federal Republic of Germany. Only about 5 per cent of members are considered far-right extremists in the classical sense. Pictured: A German man sporting a far-right tattoo
Weapons seized on in November 2016 in Solingen, Germany from the radical rightwing ‘Reichsbuerger’ group, who are growing in number
Many identify with the German Reich of 1871-1918 or assert a form of self-rule similar to the sovereign citizens movement in the United States.
The agency says most of those counted are male, over 40 and strongly attracted to firearms.
But it says only about 5 per cent are considered far-right extremists in the classical sense.
The movement is extremely diverse, with its adherents often sharing little more in common than a fundamental rejection of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Some of those who believe in the old Reich print their own passports and driver’s licenses.
They are also known to stockpile weapons, with the BfV adding in its report that some are ready to commit ‘serious acts of violence’.
In recent years, some of its adherents have attacked officers during police raids, afterwards claiming they have a right to ‘defend their property’, Die Welt reports.
After the Second World War, Germany was stripped of vast swathes of territory by the Allies. Pictured: The Soviet flag flies over a defeated Berlin
A police officer was killed after being shot by a Reichsbuerger member during a raid to seize his firearms.
Reich Citizens look at post-1945 Germany as an invention of the victorious powers in the Second World War.
They consider the 1937 borders of the German Empire – which stretched much further east than modern Germany – to still be valid.
After the Second World War, Germany was stripped of vast swathes of territory by the Allies.
More than 12 million Germans were expelled from their homes in Eastern and Central Europe and sent to live in the smaller Germany that we know today.
The German government estimates that between 2 and 2.5 million civilians died during the expulsions.
The Soviet Union and Poland acquired most of the land that was previously settled by Germans, including famous cities like Danzig (which became Gdansk in Poland) and Königsberg (which became Kaliningrad in Russia).
Reich Citizens wish to see these changes reversed.