Reichsbürger movement

Reichsbürgerbewegung (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪ̯çsbʏʁɡɐbəˌveːɡʊŋ] ⓘ; 'Reich Citizens' Movement') or Reichsbürger (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪ̯çsˌbʏʁɡɐ] ⓘ; 'Reich Citizen[s]') are several anticonstitutional revisionist groups and individuals in Germany and elsewhere who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state, the Federal Republic of Germany, in favour of the German Reich.

Reichsbürger adherents typically espouse the belief that the German Reich was not succeeded by the Federal Republic of Germany under the principle of state succession. Instead, they hold that the Reich continues to exist in its pre-World War II or pre-World War I borders, and its legitimate government is one or another of the Reichsbürger organizations.

Reichsbürger have engaged in violence and criminal activities, and are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as extremist organizations.: 20–21  The latter estimated that some 21,000 people belong to the movement in Germany as of July 2021. In December 2022, German federal police arrested 25 people accused of planning a coup against the German government, some of whom were closely associated with the movement.

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