Heinrich XIII, who called himself Prince of the Reuss family, was tried for plotting to gather forces to violently overthrow the government and restore the German Empire.

Since the 12th century, the Reuss family, an influential noble family in Germany, ruled the city-state of Gera and much of the surrounding territory, in what is now the state of Thuringia in eastern Germany.

All male members of the Reuss dynasty were named Heinrich, the first born in each century would be called Henry I, the second Henry II and so on until the next century.

But more than 100 years ago, the Reuss dynasty ended.

The land of the Reuss family became part of the state of Thuringia in 1920. All royal privileges and aristocracy were canceled.

However, the Reuss descendants still sought to maintain the family’s naming tradition.

When he grew up, Heinrich XIII married an Iranian woman and had two children.

Henry XIII arrives at court in Frankfurt, Germany on May 21.

Henry XIII for many years publicly supported the theory that life around the world would be better under monarchy.

When invited to speak at the World Web Forum in Zurich, Switzerland in 2019 to discuss economic and technological issues, Heinrich XIII did not hide his ambition.

This self-proclaimed prince believes that because Germany did not sign a peace treaty at the end of World War II, the current Federal Republic has no legal basis to exist.

Heinrich XIII’s rhetoric was met with many boos and protests from the audience, some of whom stood up and left the hall.

In Germany, Heinrich XIII sought to sue the government to reclaim the lands and properties he considered his `inheritance`.

This was when German security forces paid attention to Heinrich XIII and discovered a plot to overthrow the government by violence.

In December 2022, in a large-scale anti-terrorism campaign, German security forces raided 150 locations related to the Riechsburger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, including conspiracy theorists who deny their identity.

Officials discovered more than half a million dollars in gold and cash, 380 guns, 350 swords and knives of all kinds, 148,000 rounds of ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and a list of `targets`.

Police arrested Heinrich VIII for allegedly playing a key role in a coup plot to overthrow the government.

The `Council` planned to seize power in Germany and establish its own state structure.

The plan also included establishing 286 paramilitary units and occupying the defense company specializing in providing light weapons Heckler & Koch to create the `armed branch` of the `new government`, in which Henry VIII played a role.

German officials said that Heinrich VIII and 26 accomplices were the leaders of the Reichsbuerger movement, with about 21,000 members throughout Germany.

Heinrich XIII was arrested by German police in Frankfurt in December 2023.

The Reichsbuerger began to appear in the 1980s, consisting of organizations and individuals expressing resistance to the German bureaucracy.

The majority of members of the Reichsbuerger believe that the German Empire still exists, that the Federal Republic of Germany is not a state but is in fact a `private enterprise` and that Germany is still occupied by Allied forces.

German intelligence began paying attention to Reichsbuerger in 2016, when a follower of the movement murdered a police officer to avoid having his guns confiscated.

`For a long time, the authorities did not pay much attention to the Reichsbuerger,` said Kai Arzheimer, a political scientist at Mainz University, Germany.

Reichsbuerger developed and recruited more right-wing extremists, such as followers of the QAnon organization and members of the Covid-19 skeptical movement Querdenker.

Jan Rathje, a senior researcher at the CeMAS extremism monitoring agency, said movements like the Reichsbuerger often stem from the desire of former Nazis to reestablish the German Empire.

Heinrich XIII is also said to have tried to contact Russian officials to seek support for his plan to overthrow the German government, but there is no evidence that Russian officials responded to requests from extremist groups.

On May 21, the Frankfurt City Court tried Heinrich XIII and eight other suspects on charges of terrorism, treason, and conspiracy to overthrow the German government.

Other members of the Reuss family had long had no contact with Heinrich XIII.

However, expert Rathje said that German officials `dangerously underestimated` the threat from the Reichsbuerger and the coup plot of people like Heinrich XIII.

`People always think that only crazy people write crazy things to the government,` he told the BBC.

Due to the nature of the incident, the trial of the Reichsbuerger’s coup plot took place in three areas including Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich, with a total of 26 defendants.

The first trial of 9 defendants related to the `military wing` of the Reichsbuerger began in Stuttgart in April. The court in Munich plans to try the remaining defendants from June 17.