Germany arrests 25 suspected of violent far-right plot to install prince - Reuters

[1/9] Police search a car as they secure the area after 25 suspected members and supporters of a far-right group were detained during raids across Germany, in Berlin, Germany December 7, 2022.

BERLIN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday detained 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that prosecutors said were preparing a violent overthrow of the state, with some members suspected of plotting an armed attack on the parliament.

Prosecutors said the group was inspired by the deep state conspiracy theories of QAnon and the Reichsbuerger, who do not recognise the legitimacy of modern Germany, insisting the far larger "Deutsche Reich" still existed despite the Nazis' defeat in World War Two.

It said Heinrich, who uses the title prince and comes from the royal House of Reuss, which had ruled over parts of eastern Germany, had reached out to representatives of Russia, whom the group saw as its central contact for establishing its new order.

Investigators suspect individual members of the group had concrete plans to storm the Bundestag lower house of parliament in Berlin with a small armed group, the prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutors said the raids were conducted by more than 3,000 police officials and security forces across 11 German federal states.

Suspects were arrested in the German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Thuringia as well as in Austria and Italy, said the office.

The focus of the recruitment efforts were primarily members of the military and police officers, the office said.

The group was aware its plan would involve deaths, the office said, adding that its members considered this scenario to be a "necessary intermediate step" towards overarching system change.

Investigations into a far-right plot to overthrow the German state show the threat posed by the "Reichsbuerger" movement, which denies the existence of the modern German state, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday.