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Munich Court Convicts Three Over Kaiserreichsgruppe Terror Plot

The verdict, reached after a plea agreement, signals that courts will punish pandemic‑era Reichsbürger schemes that aimed to use violence to overthrow democratic institutions.

Overview

  • The Munich Higher Regional Court convicted three men on Friday, May 22, 2026, for membership in or support of the so‑called Kaiserreichsgruppe and for preparing a high‑treason enterprise.
  • The 62‑year‑old was sentenced to two years and three months in prison after the court found he drafted plans for the group and rewrote parts of the 1871 constitution.
  • The 60‑ and 71‑year‑old defendants received suspended sentences of one year four months and one year nine months respectively after admitting guilt under a Verständigung, or plea agreement.
  • Court records say the group plotted to kidnap then‑Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and to attack the power supply to spark civil‑war‑like conditions and replace Germany’s constitutional order.
  • Authorities dismantled the network in 2022 and the Munich verdict, which a judge called part of processing the pandemic’s late effects, is one of several prosecutions across Germany that police and prosecutors continue to pursue.