Reichsbürger movement aims to establish parallel societies by infiltrating schools, clubs and public offices

Reichsbürger movement aims to establish parallel societies by infiltrating schools, clubs and public offices

A strategic rural land grab by rightwing extremists is taking place across Germany with the concerted aim of creating communities independent of the state, according to the domestic intelligence agency and government ministries.

Authorities and NGOs monitoring far-right groups say the members of the Reichsbürger movement who reject the post-1945 German state are making a targeted effort to establish parallel societies and infiltrate existing structures including schools, clubs and public offices.

  • LesserAbe@lemmy.worldEnglish
    653·
    1 year ago

    Reads more like a delusional cult and painful nuisance rather than a serious threat to democracy. The guy thinks he’s an incarnation of an archangel.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      61·
      1 year ago

      I think that’s the way these always look before they succeed. Vigilance is important, though paranoia is harmful.

      • HollandJim@lemmy.worldEnglish
        261·
        1 year ago

        Agreed. We paid no attention to Trump and he’s spearheading these groups. You need to be vigilant from the start or else they’ll continue thinking you’re weak. Any corrective actions later seem like overreach and then they only gain MORE ground.

      • agitatedpotato@lemmy.worldEnglish
        61·
        1 year ago

        The techniques they’re using are real. Building parallel power structures is the way to usurp current power structures or build orginazational power. People on the revolutionary left know this too, but we tend to engage thay way through mutual aid over land grabs.

        They seem to be focused on a parallel society because they’re fighting a culture war. My vision of parallel power structures are ones that meet material needs(think BPP breakfast program), not the want for a society to be more insular.(think Bundy and the rest of the talibanjo farmers)

    • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zipEnglish
      431·
      1 year ago

      Don’t discount them. The fringe right is, as everywhere else on the world, on the rise here in Germany.

      Think qanon levels of delusional, and prone to antidemocratic extremism. The core belief of being a Reichsbürger is that the modern German state is an imperialist construct imposed by the western winners of ww2, and has thus no legitimacy. They consider themselves citizens (Bürger) of the previous german Reich.

      Think of the January insurrection attempt in the u.s., those people weren’t taken seriously before either. Until they marched on the government, one of them prominently wearing a self made shaman outfit.

        • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zipEnglish
          62·
          1 year ago

          Just looked them up, that sounds about right. Maybe a bit less weird because they just want the government to leave them alone whereas the ours are often more hostile towards it.

    • 100_percent_a_bot@lemmy.worldEnglish
      26·
      1 year ago

      That’s pretty spot on, no one takes these guys too seriously here. Also, Germany has a lot more rigid ways of defending its democracy against these kinds of subversions than most other countries, since it caused a lot of ruckus when that happened the last time - not sure if any of you history buffs are aware of an obscure figure called Hitler…