Reichsbürger movement aims to establish parallel societies by infiltrating schools, clubs and public offices

Reichsbürger movement aims to establish parallel societies by infiltrating schools, clubs and public offices

A strategic rural land grab by rightwing extremists is taking place across Germany with the concerted aim of creating communities independent of the state, according to the domestic intelligence agency and government ministries.

Authorities and NGOs monitoring far-right groups say the members of the Reichsbürger movement who reject the post-1945 German state are making a targeted effort to establish parallel societies and infiltrate existing structures including schools, clubs and public offices.

  • LesserAbe@lemmy.worldEnglish
    612·
    11 months ago

    Reads more like a delusional cult and painful nuisance rather than a serious threat to democracy. The guy thinks he’s an incarnation of an archangel.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      56·
      11 months ago

      I think that’s the way these always look before they succeed. Vigilance is important, though paranoia is harmful.

      • HollandJim@lemmy.worldEnglish
        271·
        11 months ago

        Agreed. We paid no attention to Trump and he’s spearheading these groups. You need to be vigilant from the start or else they’ll continue thinking you’re weak. Any corrective actions later seem like overreach and then they only gain MORE ground.

    • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zipEnglish
      431·
      11 months ago

      Don’t discount them. The fringe right is, as everywhere else on the world, on the rise here in Germany.

      Think qanon levels of delusional, and prone to antidemocratic extremism. The core belief of being a Reichsbürger is that the modern German state is an imperialist construct imposed by the western winners of ww2, and has thus no legitimacy. They consider themselves citizens (Bürger) of the previous german Reich.

      Think of the January insurrection attempt in the u.s., those people weren’t taken seriously before either. Until they marched on the government, one of them prominently wearing a self made shaman outfit.

      • Quokka@quokk.auEnglish
        10·
        11 months ago

        They’re basically what we call “sovereign citizens” yeah?

        • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zipEnglish
          61·
          11 months ago

          Just looked them up, that sounds about right. Maybe a bit less weird because they just want the government to leave them alone whereas the ours are often more hostile towards it.

    • 100_percent_a_bot@lemmy.worldEnglish
      26·
      11 months ago

      That’s pretty spot on, no one takes these guys too seriously here. Also, Germany has a lot more rigid ways of defending its democracy against these kinds of subversions than most other countries, since it caused a lot of ruckus when that happened the last time - not sure if any of you history buffs are aware of an obscure figure called Hitler…