Peter Fitzek proclaims the self-styled 'Kingdom of Germany' in Wittenberg

On 1 September 2012, Peter Fitzek, a former karate teacher and trained cook from eastern Germany, proclaimed himself "King of Germany" in the town of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt. He announced the founding of the "Königreich Deutschland" (Kingdom of Germany), a self-declared state that claimed to stand apart from the Federal Republic.

Fitzek and his followers rejected the legitimacy of the modern German state and its laws. In this they resemble the wider "Reichsbürger" (Reich citizens) milieu, a loose scene of people who deny the Federal Republic's existence or authority. The group issued its own documents, such as identity papers and a currency known as the "Engelgeld", and set up its own structures, including a health insurance scheme.

The project mattered because it drew paying members and acquired property, while German authorities saw it as an attempt to operate outside the law. Financial regulators acted against some of its activities, notably the unlicensed insurance and banking-like services. Fitzek was later convicted in separate cases, and the movement remained under official scrutiny, which is the background to the later proceedings against him.