Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, accused of being the main instigator of the coup preparations, is said to have tried to contact Russia to prepare the putsch.
The main suspects in a group of conspiracy theorists accused of plotting to overthrow the German government are on trial in Frankfurt starting Tuesday.
The prince
Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss is accused of being the main instigator of the coup preparations. He was to be installed as head of Germany if this far-fetched plan had succeeded. Reuss, 72, is the scion of a noble family that once ruled large swathes of Germany’s eastern Thuringia region. Coming from a family of six children, Reuss trained as an engineer, but earned his living in real estate. He lives in Frankfurt, but also has a castle in Bad Lobenstein, Thuringia.
Reuss is accused of trying to contact Russia before the planned coup, through his Russian partner, named Vitalia B., also on trial in Frankfurt. Some members of his family have distanced themselves from Reuss. The current head of the princely house of Reuss told AFP last year that he was considered the “black sheep of the family”.
Reuss had already attracted attention with his fanciful theories. In a rambling speech at a conference in Zurich in 2019, he referred to the “so-called Federal Republic of Germany” and claimed that the country had been ruled by the Allies since the end of World War II.
The judge
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, judge and former member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, had been approached to become “Justice Ministry” of the group. Investigators believe the 59-year-old woman helped the group plan an armed attack. Police, who searched his apartment, found several weapons as well as large stocks of food, according to German media.
Malsack-Winkemann began working as a judge in Berlin in 1993. The divorced mother of two was an MP from 2017 to 2021. She used an astrologer during her term, according to newspaper Die Zeit, which is also among the coup suspects. She then returned to her role as a judge in Berlin in March 2022, despite attempts by authorities to push her into early retirement due to doubts about her impartiality. After her arrest, she was suspended from her duties.
The former para
Rüdiger von Pescatore, 70, a former German army commander accused by the prosecution of having co-founded this “terrorist group”, was expected to take charge of the army after the coup. He began his career as a paratrooper before becoming lieutenant-colonel and then commander of the parachute battalion. According to Die Zeit, he gained attention in the army by teaching old Nazi songs or by whimsical behavior, such as when an army helicopter dropped him off at his home for coffee.
But Pescatore’s military career came to an abrupt end in the mid-1990s, when he was convicted of diverting weapons from old Army stockpiles. He was kicked out of the army and emigrated with his family to Brazil, according to Die Zeit, before returning to Germany in 2021.
Other plotters
Three other men, considered for high-level military positions, are also on trial in Frankfurt: Maximilian Eder, Michael Fritsch and Peter Wörner. Eder, a former army colonel, appeared in Munich court last month on four charges of driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol. Fritsch is a former police officer from Hanover (north) who was suspended in 2020 after participating in protests against Covid-19 regulations. Wörner is a former KSK special forces soldier who lived in Norway and organized training courses. “survival”according to the daily Bild.
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