ExtremismGermany Bans Far-Right “Reichsbürger” Movement
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer last week banned a faction of the far-right “Reichsbürger” movement, also known as the Imperial Citizens’ Movement, a group which combines far-right nationalism and yearning to 1930s Germany. The movement rejects the legitimacy and authority of the modern-day German government, because all post-Second World German governments were not interested in reclaiming the territories Germany gained under Adolf Hitler – what the movement calls the German Empire — but was forced to relinquish when the Allies defeated Nazi Germany.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer last week banned a faction of the far-right “Reichsbürger” movement, also known as the Imperial Citizens’ Movement, a group which combines far-right nationalism and yearning to 1930s Germany. The movement rejects the legitimacy and authority of the modern-day German government, because all post-Second World German governments were not interested in reclaiming the territories Germany gained under Adolf Hitler – what the movement calls the German Empire — but was forced to relinquish when the Allies defeated Nazi Germany.
“We will be relentless in continuing the fight against right-wing extremism, even in times of crisis,” Seehofer said.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that police on Thursday also conducted sweeping operations in ten German cities against two sister far-right groups — “United German Peoples and Tribes” and “Osnabrücker Landmark” – Interior Ministry spokesman Steve Alter said on Twitter.
More than 400 officers carried out simultaneous raids on the homes of twenty-one leaders and senior members of the two groups. The Interior Ministry said officers uncovered guns, ammunition, propaganda materials, and narcotics.
Seehofer said that “Für Rassismus und Antisemitismus haben wir in unserer Gesellschaft keinen Millimeter Platz” (We don’t have a millimeter of space in our society for racism and anti-Semitism).
He added that the banned group “spread racist and anti-Semitic texts, thereby systematically poisoning our free society.
“The verbal aggression and massive threats against government officials and their families also prove the unconstitutional attitude of this group,” he said.
DW notes that Seehofer has vowed to tackle racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism following a string of deadly hate crime attacks over the past year.
