Peter Fitzek, 61, who calls himself Peter the First, has gone on trial in Düsseldorf on charges of heading a criminal organisation. He is accused of leading the banned Reichsbürger group that sought to establish a “Kingdom of Germany” (KRD) and to set up its own banking, insurance and currency systems.
The indictment names Fitzek and three other men – identified only as Benjamin M, Mathias B and Martin S – as senior “subjects” of the KRD. Prosecutors say the group operated branches in Dresden, Ulm, Menden and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, and ran a registration office that issued fake identity documents and its own currency.
Fitzek, a former chef and karate instructor, declared himself “supreme sovereign” of the kingdom in 2012, was crowned in ermine robes and brandished a medieval sword. He began buying land and property across Germany, and the KRD grew to about 6,000 members, becoming the largest Reichsbürger and self‑governance group in the country.
In 2025, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned the KRD. Fitzek and the other three suspects were taken into custody and are now facing up to ten years in prison for plotting against the German state, organised forgery, tax evasion and the operation of an illegal banking and insurance system that collected about €10 million in unauthorised transactions.
Before the trial began, Fitzek criticised his detention as a violation of human rights, saying, “They are isolating me completely.” He has previously denied violent intentions, calling the German state “destructive and sick.”
German intelligence agencies define Reichsbürger as conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the post‑war German state. Some 26,000 people are estimated to be part of Reichsbürger organisations, a small minority of whom are considered potentially violent.
As the trial proceeds, observers will watch whether the court finds the KRD’s activities to constitute a serious threat to the constitutional order and whether the defendants will be convicted on the full range of charges.
