Thousands of police have carried out raids across Germany to thwart a ‘crackpot’ movement’s plan to violently overthrow the government and install a prince.

Police arrested a motley crew of 25 alleged plotters who were inspired by deep state conspiracy theories and followed a “conglomerate of myths”.

Investigators suspect the right-wing group had concrete plans to storm the Bundestag lower house of parliament in Berlin with a small armed force.

The suspects included members of Germany’s Reichsbuerger movement (Citizens of the Reich), who do not recognise modern-day Germany as a legitimate state.

Others were followers of QAnon, which came to prominence in the US during the Capitol Hill riots.

The audacious plot was aimed at installing a former member of a German royal family, identified as Heinrich XIII, as the leader in a future state.

Heinrich uses the title prince and the movement said he came from the royal House of Reuss, which once ruled parts of eastern Germany.

A statement from the German federal prosecutor’s office said the accused were “united by a deep rejection of state institutions and the free democratic basic order”.

“The members of the group follow a conglomerate of conspiracy myths consisting of narratives of the so-called Reichsbürger, as well as QAnon ideology.”

The man known as Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is led by police from his house. Photo: Getty

The group had reached out to representatives of Russia, whom they saw as their central contact for establishing the new order.

The Kremlin said there was no Russian involvement, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it “appears to be a German internal problem”.

Raids were conducted by more than 3000 police officials and security forces across 11 German federal states.

Suspects were also arrested in Austria and Italy, the office said.

The suspects are accused of plotting for at least a year to carry out actions based on their ideology, according to the prosecutor’s office.

This included procuring equipment, recruiting members and holding shooting lessons.

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

A police chopper involved in the arrests. Photo: Getty

One active soldier and several reservists were among those being investigated, a spokesperson for the military intelligence service told Reuters.

The active soldier is a member of the Bundeswehr’s KSK elite force. It had been overhauled in recent years after several far-right incidents.

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

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency attributes 21,000 people to the Reichsbuerger movement. About 5 per cent of them are considered far-right extremists.

The House of Reuss had previously distanced itself from Heinrich, calling him a confused man who pursued conspiracy theories, according to local media.

In a speech in 2019 denouncing modern political structures, Heinrich Reuss said his family dynasty could be traced back to 900 AD.

He said that in the former principality of Reuss, people led “happy lives” because the administrative structures were “straightforward and transparent”.

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Officially, there are no princes and princesses in Germany after the monarchy was abolished a century ago. The legal privileges and titles of German nobility were abolished when the Weimar constitution became law August 14, 1919.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the investigations provided a “glimpse into the abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reichsbuerger milieu”.

The military intelligence service said it had worked with the prosecutors on their investigation and shared information with domestic intelligence and federal criminal investigators in the run up to Wednesday’s raids.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the government would respond with the full force of the law, and said further investigations would reveal how far the group’s coup plans had progressed.

Ms Faeser said the constitutional state knew how to defend itself against “the enemies of democracy”.

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In August 2020, protesters stormed the steps of Germany’s Reichstag parliament building, some of them holding far-right flags, during mass marches against COVID-19 curbs.

The detained suspects will appear before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday and Thursday who will issue the arrest warrants and decide on their pre-trial detention.