Germany's self-declared king Peter Fitzek is on trial in Düsseldorf

He crowned himself king, issued his own money and collected payments from his "subjects". Now Peter Fitzek is sitting in the dock. His trial has started at the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf.

What happened?

Fitzek is the head of the "Königreich Deutschland" ("Kingdom of Germany"), a make-believe state in the middle of the real one. It came with its own currency, its own bank and its own insurance, and Fitzek ruled over all of it as king.

Now he has to answer for forming a criminal organisation. According to reports from the courtroom, Fitzek appeared relaxed on the first day of the trial.

Business model or delusion?

The big question hanging over the case is simple: what was this "kingdom" actually? One reading is that it was a business model, and a lucrative one, because followers kept paying in. The other is that it was a hostile-to-the-state fantasy of people who reject the Federal Republic.

Fitzek's group is counted among the so-called Reichsbürger, a scene whose members refuse to accept the modern German state and its laws. His own supporters, of course, saw something else: a way out of "the system".

How did we get here?

The story began in September 2012. Fitzek, a former karate teacher, proclaimed the "Königreich Deutschland" in Wittenberg and declared himself "King of Germany".

In May 2025, the authorities struck. They banned the group as an association of the Reichsbürger type and searched properties in several federal states. Fitzek was among those targeted.

What's next?

The court in Düsseldorf will now examine whether the structures Fitzek built amount to a criminal organisation. That includes the money that flowed to the "kingdom" and the question of who benefited.

It is a rare case: a man who ran a fantasy state for years has to explain himself before a very real judge.