Peter Fitzek (born 12 August 1965) is a German criminal and cult leader. He is founder of "Kingdom of Germany" and proclaimed himself "Peter I of the Kingdom of Germany.".[1] His gang is the largest and the most developed Reich Citizens' Movement-group in Germany. Fitzek is permanently contesting the legitimacy of the democratic constitution and the German state.[2]
Peter Fitzek | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 August 1965 |
| Criminal charge(s) | traffic offences, intentional bodily harm and insult |
| Criminal status | Convicted |
Life
editFitzek is a trained chef. He claims to have achieved a "vice European championship title of all martial arts" in an "open European championship" in an unknown martial art in Zurich in 1994. It is believed that this refers to Sambo, which comes from Russia. In 2000 he opened a bookstore for esoteric literature.
In 2016, Fitzek was sentenced to three months in prison for traffic offences, and his premises were searched by police in the course of a financial regulation investigation.[3][4][5] In 2017, Fitzek was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for operating a bank without a license and embezzling his clients' money,[6] though the conviction was later quashed.[1]
Fizek is networking with groups and persons of Neue Rechte, like Jürgen Elsässer as well as Anti-Corona Movement activists like Michael Ballweg.[7][8]
"Kingdom of Germany"
editFitzek developed a cult, based on a mixture of esoteric, Germanic new medicine and political conspiracy theories. According to its founding certificate, the “Kingdom of Germany” (KRD) group was founded in September 2012 in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt. The KRD claims itself as a “new German state that complies with international law”. Peter Fitzek stands by him as the self-proclaimed “King of Germany”. He promotes the KRD by saying that people in his “kingdom” don’t have to pay taxes, claiming also companies within KRD are tax and declaration-free.[9] In 2023, there were a number of illegal companies nationwide that call themselves “Company in the KRD”.[9] The claim is misleading because joining the KRD does not exempt from paying taxes in the Federal Republic of Germany.[10]
"Kingdom of Germany" (Königreich Deutschland, KRD) claims to have about 5,000 members and its own currency, a bank, and social security. KRD consists of several properties around the city of Wittenberg, southwest of Berlin. There the gang opened their headquarters “Wittenberg Light Center” on the site of a former meat canning factory. There KRD holds various esoteric day and weekend seminars. The content of the seminar “CANCER in the light of the latest findings” includes, among other things, the ideas of the Germanic New Medicine of the cancer miracle healer and anti-Semite Ryke Geerd Hamer.
At the beginning of 2022, the KRD was able to acquire two properties in Saxony. The group intends to build self-sufficient structures there and create a self-governing “national territory”.[10][11]
KRD “representative offices” were forcibly closed. KRD's illegal health insurance company “GemeinwohlKasse” was closed by BaFin in February 2023. Fitzek continued the unauthorized business despite administrative enforcement measures.[12]
At the end of November 2023, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin searched branches of the sect in 10 federal states. With 200 officers supported by officers of German Bundesbank and federal and state criminal and riot police. BaFin collected evidence of illicit financial transactions in the 'Kingdom of Germany' as well as the connections and networks of this association, as banking and insurance transactions were carried out without permission.[13]
The group has been under surveillance by German intelligence services, who consider the group a potential threat.[1] BfV classifies KRD as an extremist group.[14]
KRD aims to override the current legal system of democratic Germany and replace it with its own system in which democratic principles and laws should have no validity. Even if the KRD does not advocate violent actions, violence is one of its basic features. In its “military constitution,” the gang writes that every German should be taught basic knowledge about self-defense with and without weapons. The programmatic statements offer a starting point for radicalization. Since state order is not accepted, violence against it is legitimized as “self-defense” by KRD.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c "The self-proclaimed kingdom that doesn't recognise Germany". BBC News. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ "The self-proclaimed kingdom that doesn't recognise Germany". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ "Fahnder durchsuchen "Königreich Deutschland"". Die Welt (in German). 13 April 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ "Judge sends 'King of Germany' to jail". The Local. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ ""König von Deutschland" muss in Haft" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ ""König von Deutschland" zu Haftstrafe verurteilt". Der Spiegel. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ Baeck, Jean-Philipp (31 May 2022). "Rechtes Schloss in Sachsen: Ein Königreich für einen Koch". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ Gürgen, Malene (5 May 2015). "Rechtsextreme Demo am Reichstag: "Eine unappetitliche Mischung"". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ a b Aktuell, S. W. R. (30 March 2023). ""Reichsbürger" wollen im "Königreich Deutschland" parallele Wirtschaft aufbauen". swr.online (in German). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Begriff und Erscheinungsformen". BundesamtfuerVerfassungsschutz (in German). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Reichsbürger: German 'crackpot' movement turns radical and dangerous". BBC News. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ ""Reichsbürger": Ermittler durchsuchen Räume der Organisation "Königreich Deutschland"". Der Spiegel (in German). 29 November 2023. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "BaFin geht mit Razzia gegen Bank des "Königs von Deutschland" vor". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Homepage". BundesamtfuerVerfassungsschutz (in German). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
External links
edit- David Gauvey Herbert (19 May 2020). "The King of Germany Will Accept Your Bank Deposits Now". Bloomberg.com.