Peter Fitzek proclaims 'Königreich Deutschland' in Wittenberg in 2012

On 16 September 2012, Peter Fitzek, a former martial arts instructor and cook from Saxony-Anhalt, proclaimed the 'Königreich Deutschland' (Kingdom of Germany) in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. He named himself its king and presented the project as a new state with its own constitution, symbols and institutions.

The group belongs to the wider Reichsbürger scene, whose followers reject the legitimacy of the modern Federal Republic and its laws. Fitzek's kingdom was not recognised by any government. Over the following years it set up parallel structures, including a so-called health insurance fund and a bank-like scheme for its members, as well as its own identity papers and number plates.

The parallel institutions soon drew the attention of German authorities. Financial regulators held that offering insurance and banking services without a licence broke German law, and officials treated the group as part of the Reichsbürger milieu. The founding in Wittenberg is the starting point of the legal disputes that later led to Fitzek's convictions and to the current trial over illegal banking.