You missed a golden opportunity:
nutbürgers.
A bunch of Jan 6ers thought that their example would cause people to rise up (just look at all the angry folks participating in their chat rooms!). Delusion bubble.
Pure guess on my part but I assume they counted on recruiting a lot more people. We do know they had some military types on board apparently, as well as this guy, Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, a German aristocrat whose family used to reign over the tiny principality of Reuss before WWI. The article mentions the group met at his castle in the vicinity of Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia. Sounds like dude is a bit of a nutter but still, he has a castle. Bastard.
(I will admit to a certain fascination with descendants of royal families that no longer have a throne, particularly those who continue to use the style of Prince/Princess, Duke/Duchess, etc. I once had some professional dealings with a guy from France whose last name was d’Orleans. If history had taken a few different turns I think he would have been 2nd or 3rd in line to be King of France. He was actually a very nice guy and didn’t try to use any titles though his older brother is the Orleanist pretender to the throne and calls himself Comte de Paris. But enough of this hijack.)
Good point, although, come the coup, the 19 000 would be quickly involved, give or take some.
According to the federal general prosecutor 54 suspects are investigated, including the 25 arrested persons (note: in most criminal prosecutions in Germany the suspect is never arrested at any point).
150 locales have been searched; at more than 50 of them weapons have been found (note: that does not necessarily mean firearms, just anything classified as a weapon).
According to the president of the federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution the group has been observed since the spring of 2022 and the decision to raid now had been made as plans had become more specific and some arms had been procured.
I work with a guy who is some minor Italian noble by descent. Every summer he drives from London to the family estate somewhere in central Italy. He’s about as English as you can get (and also very nice and doesn’t use his title, which is why I can’t remember it).
Isn’t that where Igor gets his brains from?
As per today’s news: two long guns, one handgun - the rest of the 50 weapons seized was swords, crossbows, signal guns and gas pistols.
One member of the ‘military arm’ was semi-prominent cook Frank Heppner. Apparently the payoff for him was to be that he was to run the canteens of the new Reich.
Never overlook the cooks. Wasn’t that the “plot” in a Steven Segal movie, where terrorists tried to take over an aircraft carrier, but didn’t think to detain the kitchen staff… Of course Segal was the head chef.
“Under Siege”.
He was a highly decorated and totally competent Navy Seal, but
Jordan Tate : You’re not a cook.
Casey Ryback : Yeah, well… I also cook.
Prince Heinrich XIII and the Plot to Overthrow Germany’s Government - recent article form the NYT (gift link so no paywall) with more information about this guy’s involvement in the plot.
Prince Heinrich XIII, 71, a well-off descendant of a 700-year-old noble family, may seem an unlikely ringleader of such a terrorist plot. But, prosecutors say, he was designated by his co-conspirators to become head of state in a post-coup regime.
So his hope was to be king or dictator or whatever in the new German state.
BTW the numeral is necessary but not sufficient to reference male members of the Reuss family. They are all named Heinrich, and are numbered separately by branch and subbranch, e.g. the current head of the house, Heinrich XIV, is not a near relation. Heinrich XIV had called Heinrich XIII a confused old man last year. Heinrich XIV‘ son and designated successor as head of the house is Heinrich XXIX. A Reuss matron cannot just say ‚Heinrich, please put out the trash‘ - she‘d need to specify.
Sounds like there are a lot fewer branches than one would expect, if you know what I mean.
To make it even more complicated, the two lines of the House of Reuss have different rules on when the numbers reset. “In the elder line the numbering covers all male children of the elder House, and the numbers increase until 100 is reached and then start again at 1. In the younger line the system is similar but the numbers increase until the end of the century before starting again at 1.”
That may have been his hope, but since “he was designated by his co-conspirators to become head of state in a post-coup regime”, I suspect his buddies envisaged a more puppet-like role for him.
The Elder Line, however, went extinct in 1927, at the death of Heinrich XXIV.
So we have a doddering semi-wealthy old man with soft hands accompanied by a bunch of gun-toting 30yos. And the dodderer thinks he’s in charge? Yeah right.
I certainly believe he might think that. But like you, I’m sure he was thinking wrongly.
And on top of that, his entire claim to the position is based on being related to the guy who was in charge at least three whole different systems of governments ago (four systems, if we count the non-defunct post-WWII East German government), and that seems to be his only claim to fame.
Silly commoner! Royalty is eternal. God said it, I benefit from it, and that settles it.