Self-styled 'king of Germany' goes on trial accused of heading criminal group

A self-declared "king" of Germany has gone on trial in Düsseldorf accused of leading a criminal organisation along with three other men described as his senior "subjects".

Peter Fitzek, 61, who calls himself Peter the First, is a member of a banned Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) group that sought to set up a "Kingdom of Germany" (KRD).

Reichsbürger are defined by German intelligence agencies as conspiracy theorists who reject the existence and legitimacy of the post-war German state.

The defendants are accused of plotting against Germany by seeking to establish the structures of an alternative state, including a banking and insurance system and currency.

Fitzek denies committing a crime.

The defendants, including Fitzek and three other men identified only as Benjamin M, Mathias B and Martin S, face up to 10 years in prison.

Speaking just before the trial began, Fitzek criticised his detention as a violation of human rights: "They are isolating me completely."

In 2012, Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, declared himself "supreme sovereign" of the "kingdom" and had himself crowned, dressed in ermine robes and brandishing a medieval sword.

He began buying land and property across the country. With around 6,000 members, the KRD became the largest Reichsbürger and self-governance group in Germany.

In 2025, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned the KRD, and Fitzek and the other three suspects were taken into custody.

Prosecutors accuse the group of founding the KRD "to replace the 'system' of the Federal Republic of Germany". According to the indictment, Fitzek and his deputies assumed the status of "divine beings" and issued legal decrees.

The prosecutors allege the organisation operated a banking and insurance system with branches in Dresden, Ulm, Menden and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, as well as a "registration office" that issued fake identity documents and its own currency.

Further charges include organised forgery and tax evasion amounting to millions of euros.

In just five years up to 2025, the KRD is alleged to have taken in about €10m (£8.25m) through unauthorised banking and insurance transactions, as well as via donations, gifts and fee-based seminars.

Prosecutors say these revenues were not declared to the tax authorities and that no income tax or social security contributions were paid on behalf of employees.

They said the KRD accepted substantial donations, including cash, land and 7kg of gold, but did not pay any gift tax.

The KRD is also accused of recruiting other companies by promising them that they would be able to operate free of tax and duties.

In an interview with the BBC in 2022, Fitzek denied having any violent intentions, but labelled the German state as "destructive and sick".

Intelligence services believe some 26,000 people are part of Reichsbürger organisations in Germany.

The groups are very diverse, and intelligence services say a small minority are right-wing extremists and potentially violent.

In a separate case in 2022, dozens of people were arrested, many of them Reichsbürger, for plotting to overthrow the German government in Berlin.

They were accused of planning a violent coup, which included kidnapping the health minister, to create "civil war conditions" to bring down German democracy.

Five people were jailed last year over that plot.