Reichsbürger raid + coalition strife + Dachau

Good morning,

• Shortly after the police conducted nationwide raids on a Reichsbürger cell that was allegedly planning to topple Germany’s democratic order and establish a new state with an obscure aristocrat as its leaders, I wrote a newsletter on the debate over just how seriously the planned putsch should be taken. Was this just a bunch of loopy old geriatrics, or did they actually pose a threat to society? Follow-up raids this morning show, at the very least, that the group are prepared to use violence. During one of 22 raids a policeman was shot and lightly wounded at an address in Baden-Württemberg. A report published by the Süddeutsche Zeitung this morning suggests that five more suspects have been arrested, while owners of the other properties are being treated as witnesses. Several of them are said to be active soldiers and police officers.

  • BACKGROUND: Are Germans allowed to laugh?

• Germany's vice-Chancellor has admitted that the government's legislative programme has essentially g…