Only strange at first glance: an expert explains why "Reichsbürger" tick like Elon Musk

Created: 12/22/2022, 7:10 am

By: Max Mueller

"Libertarian authoritarianism" is what experts call what Elon Musk (left) and Henry XIII.

Prince Reuss connects.

© Dimitrios Kambouris/Boris Roessler/afp/dpa (Montage)

The processing of the nationwide raid against "Reichsbürger" is underway.

An expert explains how their character is to be assessed - and why a lot of money is dangerous in the wrong hands.

Cologne – How to fight "Reichsbürger" most effectively is controversial.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to enforce stricter gun laws and Stephan Weil (SPD), Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, calls for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to take a closer look.

SPD General Kevin Kühnert sees the problem primarily in Bavaria, because a quarter of all known "Reich citizens" live there.

First of all, it would be important to start at the beginning and understand how the characters in this scene tick.

In its current annual report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution counts 21,000 people among those who dispute the authority and sovereignty of the Federal Republic.

Who are those people?

The profile of the “Reichsbürger”: seeing themselves as sovereign

For David Meiering it is clear: Your worldview is reminiscent of Elon Musk.

At the Humboldt University in Berlin, he is investigating which narratives hold extremist groups together.

In the case of the "Reichsbürger" this mechanism is very clear.

"It's about understanding yourself as sovereign," he says to the Münchner Merkur from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Example Wolfgang P. from Georgensgmünd, Bavaria: In 2016 he shot a SEK officer when the police wanted to take his weapons away from him.

The authorities only noticed Wolfgang P. because he refused to pay his vehicle tax.

He chased the customs from the courtyard with the words that they were "entering foreign state territory".

For Meiering this is a symbol: "I am the state - and I recognize and solve my problems myself."

Doing things yourself, not wanting help and living independently: it is obvious that the entrepreneur type is often to be found among the "Reich citizens".

Meiering tells of Peter Fitzek, who proclaimed the Kingdom of Germany in Saxony-Anhalt.

He considers himself the "King of Germany".

Among other things, Fitzek founded what was supposed to be his own pension fund.

The goal: to set up pseudo-legitimate parallel structures and thus make the existing state and economic structures obsolete, says the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

"Reichsbürger": Ideological overlaps with the American tech scene

"Fitzek's approach is typical for the 'Reichsbürger'," says Meiering.

Sociology now has its own expression for this character profile: “libertarian authoritarianism”.

A cumbersome term, but one that opens up an international perspective.

“We are dealing with an over-the-top form of liberalism.

We see this more advanced in the USA, especially in the tech scene.

There are people on the go who see themselves as the center of the world and believe that they can change the world on their own.

Elon Musk is the best example of this,” says Meiering.

Narcissism also plays a very important role in this.

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My space

Now you might think: let them do it.

But the case of Musk shows that megalomania becomes more dangerous when a person has a lot of money.

The “Reichsbürger” are also well equipped.

“The found fortune is unique.

Gold bars worth 6 million euros, 400,000 euros in cash and the real estate,” says Meiering.

"The houses are particularly important in order to be able to meet conspiratorially."

Expert on "Reich Citizens": "The Office for the Protection of the Constitution underestimates the overlaps"

The question remains: What about the right edge?

The protection of the constitution says: everything is not so dramatic.

In his report presented in June 2022, just over five percent of all "Reich citizens" are classified as right-wing extremists.

a mistake?

"The Office for the Protection of the Constitution underestimates the overlaps, there are some - for example anti-Semitism, which is very pronounced among right-wing extremists and 'Reich citizens'," says Meiering.

David Meiering's research interests include radicalization research and democratic theory.

© Tobias Winkel

He refers to Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, arrested judge and former AfD member of the Bundestag.

She has always been assigned to the moderate wing.

“This misjudgment is profound.

The connections to Parliament must now be checked.

Since Björn Höcke published his book in 2018, we have known that infiltrating the security authorities is a strategy.

That's why it would be important to take a closer look there and also to control the parliamentary arm, the AfD, more closely."

Nevertheless, Meiering thinks it is right to differentiate.

Because there are big differences between right-wing extremism and “Reich citizens”: “Right-wing extremism divides people into higher and lower groups.

For the 'Reichsbürger', the focus is on abolishing democracy.” In order to prevent this, the federal government now wants to spend more money on political education.

The aim: to strengthen citizens' trust in democracy.

It remains to be hoped that the "Reich citizens" do not want to solve the loss of confidence in democracy themselves.