The number of Germans who reject the legitimacy of the government has increased sharply over the past 18 months, Germany's domestic intelligence agency said Tuesday.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said in its annual report on extremism in Germany that the Reichsbuerger movement increased to about 16,500 people last year from about 10,000 in 2016. By July of this year officials estimated the movement had grown further to about 18,000 people, the agency's head Hans-Georg Maassen told reporters.
The Reichsbuerger, or Reich Citizens, movement doesn't accept the boundaries and laws of post-war Germany, and its adherents often clash with officials and police. Many identify with the German Reich of 1871-1918 or assert a form of self-rule similar to the sovereign citizens movement in the United States. ...
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