The figurehead of a far-right extremist group with plans to overthrow the German government is a "confused" minor aristocrat who is obsessed with conspiracy theories and wants to become King.
Three thousand officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany's 16 states this morning, arresting 25 members of the so-called Reich Citizens (Reichsbürger) movement.
The group rejects Germany's post-WWII consitution, has called for an armed takeover of the country's parliament (Bundestag), and plans to replace the democratic state with a monarch-ruled Reich.
Police raids on far-right targets aren't unusual in a country still reeling from its own Nazi past, but the scale of the operation has raised questions as to how credible a threat the terrorist cell is.
During the raids, cops say they arrested two ringleaders, one of whom is a direct descendent of a minor noble family who goes by Heinrich XIII, the Prince of Reuss.
Police say another leader, Ruediger v. P, was also seized in the raids.
Here's everything we know about Prince Heinrich XIII...
Heinrich XIII Prince of Reuss
Details of the Reichsbürger's full plan are yet to be revealed, but it's understood the group wants to replace the elected government with Prince Heinrich XIII - a direct descendent of Germany's pre-war rulers.
German weekly Der Spiegel said 71-year-old Heinrich is a prominent far-right patriarch who had already contacted Russian officials with the hopes of negotiating some kind of agreement once they had control of the Bundestag.
The extremist belongs to the House of Reuss, a noble German family which traces its name back to 1010 AD, with his ancestors ruling a chunk of the country for centuries.
He is not the only Reuss aristocrat, with several relatives having already come out to brand Heinrich a "confused old man" and conspiracy theory peddler.
Heinrich, who was born on December 4, 1951, is the son of Heinrich I and Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuss, another aristocrat who married into the bloodline.
The 71-year-old is married to an Iranian woman, whose maiden name is Susan Doukht Jalali and now goes by Princess Susan Reuss.
In keeping with the centuries-old tradition of naming every child Henry as a tribute to the Holy Roman Emperor who awarded the Reuss clan their nobility, the couple have a 31-year-old son together, Heinrich XXVIII.
The family ruled the historic regions of Reuss, which are based in the central state of modern day Thuringia, but were dismantled along with the German empire in 1918.
Though no longer in power, the family retained its wealth, as well as their castles and palaces which are dotted around the German countryside.
German outlet MDR claims that one of the properties cops stormed earlier today belonged to Heinrich and also serves as a formal address for a number of other corporate firms.
These include a London-based business which may have been involved in fundraising for the extremist's cause.
Despite his rich family history, Heinrich is probably better known in recent years for spouting racist and conspiratorial ideology, and taking charge of the Reichsburger movement.
In 2019, during a Worldwebforum speech in Zurich, he went on a 15-minute tirade against the dismantling of his family's rule.
He claimed his great-granddad was forced to step down as he hailed that time in history, saying Reuss's subjects "lived happy lives because the administrative structures were straightforward and transparent".
"When things aren't going well... who are you supposed to turn to today? Your parliamentarian? Local, federal, EU-level? Good luck!," he said.
He then called for a return to a "sovereign" country.
It appears that Heinrich is the only Reuss who wants to drive the country back a couple of centuries, with the family's spokesperson Heinrcih XIV branding him a "confused old man who now gets caught up in conspiracy theory misconceptions".
He added that the family have very little contact with him after he started to withdraw from relatives around 15 years ago.
