Founded in 2012 in Wittenberg, KRD proclaimed itself a separate state with its own constitution, currency, and documents, led by Fitzek who claimed leadership and promoted the idea that followers owed no taxes.

The crackdown culminated in May 2025 with KRD being banned and several leaders arrested; authorities then conducted nationwide raids and recovered data and documents.

Verfassungsschutz estimates that Reichsbürger and Selbstverwalter movements comprise roughly 26,000 adherents across about 30 groups, reflecting broader extremist fragmentation.

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office has indicted four leaders of the banned Reichsbürger group Königreich Deutschland (KRD) in Düsseldorf on charges of leading a criminal association and related offenses, with Peter Fitzek as the principal defendant.

Fitzek, a 60-year-old from Saxony-Anhalt, is also accused of operating an unauthorized insurance business and multiple tax offenses as part of the case.

The indictment was filed before the State Protection Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, as authorities seek to determine admissibility and schedule the trial.

KRD sought to expand its self-styled territory by acquiring real estate across Lower Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony to support housing, commercial activity, and events such as system-exit seminars.

Properties bought in 2022 were used to advance its residential, commercial, and seminar activities, with the aim of extending its claimed state authority.

The group promoted its own currency system, including an electronic mark and a Deutsche Mark, claiming 1 E-Mark equals 1.10 euros and promising tax and social-contribution exemptions.

Financially, the group allegedly funded itself through unauthorized banking and insurance activities, donations, and paid seminars, with roughly ten million euros raised between 2020 and 2025.

KRD operated filials and a private banking, insurance, and registry system under its own rules, including fictitious documents issued through a registry.