Peter Fitzek is the self-proclaimed "King of Germany". In order to enlarge his "kingdom", the Reichsbürger has now bought his third property.
Halsbrücke – On paper, it is a common real estate purchase contract, but for the new owner of the Halsbrücke fiefdom in Saxony it is the expansion of his fantasy state "Kingdom of Germany". "On Wednesday night, 23:12 p.m., the old owner and a graduate farmer from my state signed the purchase contract for 5.5 million euros for the 121-hectare Halsbrücke fiefdom at the notary in Hanover. This means that we are now more than two and a half times larger than the Pope's state. Its Vatican State in Rome has only 44 hectares of land," the Bild newspaper quotes the new owner of the estate, Peter Fitzek.
He is part of the Reichsbürger movement and had himself crowned "King of Germany" and "Imperator Fiduziar". Fitzek, according to his own statements, gathers several thousand followers around him. He does not pay the large sums for the gradual expansion of his "kingdom" out of his own pocket.
Reichsbürger-König buys castle: "Subjects entrust us with their money"
The Lehnsgut Halsbrücke is Fitzek's third property in the eastern German state. However, the purchases of the trained chef are not cheap: 5.5 million euros have to be paid off in installments over two years for the Halsbrücke fiefdom. The Reichsbürger-König gets the necessary support from the members of his empire: "So far, we have also been able to collect the millions for the other properties. Members of my kingdom, which has now grown to several thousand subjects, entrust us with their money, even donate their own real estate," says Fitzek. In return, those who have donated receive the right of residence in the lands of the "kingdom".
In Bild, Saxony's President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Dirk-Martin Christian, warned against Fitzek's sectarian system. Those who get involved with the group and give away their savings not only fall into existential dependencies on the "self-proclaimed king", but also into a maelstrom of extremist ideologies and conspiracy theories. "Fitzek denies the current legal and constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany, wants to build pseudo-legitimized parallel structures," asserts the president of the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
"Kingdom of Germany": A manipulative sect
The Lehnsgut Halsbrücke is a farm with a farm shop and a large floor area. According to the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Fitzek is trying to conquer large areas in Saxony for his Reichsbürger kingdom. This is reported by t-online. The aim is to establish so-called "villages for the common good" in which "sect-like settlement communities" live in a self-sufficient state in their "kingdom". In Halsbrücke, too, "the old employees have already been dismissed and replaced by members of my kingdom," Fitzek said.
Speaking to the German news agency dpa in the spring of 2023, Brandenburg's head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Jörg Müller, warned against the perfidious strategy behind the "Kingdom of Germany". Fitzek's goal is to make people psychologically dependent on themselves, and he makes a living by excluding other people financially. The "Kingdom of Germany" was proclaimed in 2012 in Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt and attracts people with a "golden future".
Reichsbürger crime at an all-time high
"Reich citizens" and "self-administrators" doubt the legitimacy of the Federal Republic. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates that around 23,000 people belong to this scene. Experts repeatedly warn against dismissing the members of the movement as harmless esotericists. The crimes committed by citizens of the Reich and self-administrators rose by around 2022 percent to 40 cases in 1865. The focus was on coercion and threats as well as insults. The number of violent crimes in this area also increased by 40 percent to 333.
The state will continue to proceed "with all severity against citizens of the Reich," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). She referred to the large-scale raid at the end of last year against a suspected coup attempt from the scene and called for the consistent withdrawal of weapons. According to her, there are still about 400 citizens of the Reich who have at least one gun permit. (aa/dpa)
