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Assembly of "Dragon Lord Haters" in August 2018: "Something like a place of pilgrimage"
Photo: DPA / NEWS5
Most of them have probably never heard of Altschauerberg, although the small Franconian district has been the scene of an absurd and unpleasant nationwide conflict for more than five years.
Altschauerberg shows how digital bullying can turn into violence in the real world.
Because the YouTuber and streamer Reiner Winkler, known on the internet under the pseudonym "Drachenlord", lives in the little town about an hour's drive from Nuremberg.
The 32-year-old has long been the target of hostility - not only on the Internet, but also in front of his house.
A community has formed in special forums on the Internet that follows all of the Dragon Lord's activities and repeatedly visits and provokes him at home, be it with loud fireworks, insulting shouts or graffiti and damage to his property.
Winkler is first and foremost affected, but he himself also contributes to the fact that the dispute does not end.
The conflict began in 2014 when the blogger himself gave his address in one of his videos and asked his opponents to come to him.
Since then people have been traveling to the house of the "Dragon Lord" from all over the world.
"For them, his house is something of a place of pilgrimage," says Michael Petzold from the Central Franconian Police Headquarters.
The visits to Winkler's house continue to this day, as local residents report.
Even during the corona pandemic, opponents from Winkler who call themselves "haters" come to the village several times a week.
Last but not least, the 40 or so residents of Altschauerberg suffer from this, and some of the insults to those who came are also directed against the neighbors.
Litigation under strict security conditions
Winkler is now on trial in Nuremberg. The YouTuber is charged with dangerous bodily harm and other offenses. Among other things, he is said to have hit and injured a man with a flashlight. He is said to have pelted another with a brick. Winkler largely admitted the allegations in court. He hit a man in front of his house with a flashlight and injured his forehead. He took another man in a headlock and hit him, said the 32-year-old on Thursday in the process in Nuremberg.
His defense attorney announced during the trial that the YouTuber would move away from Altschauerberg and that he had since sold his house.
He also plans to appear differently on the Internet in the future.
The prosecutor nevertheless refused to come to an agreement with the defense on a suspended sentence in the event of a confession at the start of the trial.
In the process, the court should also investigate the question of whether Winkler had identified the two as uninvited visitors and what preceded the alleged bodily harm.
The public prosecutor's office also accuses him of defamation and insulting police officers.
For security reasons, the responsible district court in Neustadt an der Aisch has moved the main hearing against the "Dragon Lord" to the criminal justice center in Nuremberg.
The process began on Thursday morning under strict security conditions, pictures showed how police officers had taken position in front of the building.
In the run-up, a larger rush was feared, which initially seemed to be absent.
At the largest gathering to date in Altschauerberg, several hundred people came in August 2018, some of whom, according to the police, had even come from neighboring European countries.
The Nuremberg court spokesman Friedrich Weitner also fears that content from the trial could reach the Internet directly.
That actually happened in past trials involving the Dragon Lord.
There is a great deal of interest in the process, Weitner said that he had received calls from all over Germany.
On the first day of the trial, the court wants to question several witnesses.
Haters pose problems for the local police
For the local police inspection, the hate demos and riots in Altschauerberg are an enormous burden, says police spokesman Petzold.
Again and again she has to move out because of disturbance of the peace, trespassing, assault and other crimes.
There are up to 15 missions a day.
The responsible public prosecutor's office in Nuremberg-Fürth speaks of countless proceedings in this context.
Police officers who have been entrusted with the case for many years report that the processes surrounding Winkler tie up a lot of resources.
The municipality of Emskirchen, to which Altschauerberg belongs, issued a general decree for the district in the summer, which, among other things, prohibits gatherings of people and provides for a fine of up to 1000 euros.
It is not the first time that the courts have dealt with the phenomenon of the "dragon lord".
The blogger himself was before the district court because of a pepper spray attack on one of his opponents.
For this he was sentenced to a suspended sentence of seven months in September 2019.
In the spring, the court had promised a suspended sentence in the current Winkler case if, in return, he would no longer fuel the hatred against himself with videos on the Internet.
Winkler rejected that at the time, reports the online medium "T-online".
In 2016, the Nuremberg Regional Court sentenced a then 24-year-old to a prison term of several years.
Among other things, he had made a false emergency call and thus triggered a large police and fire service on the YouTuber.
hpp / dpa
