German court sentences three over 'Kaiserreichgruppe' terrorist membership

The upper regional court (OLG) in Munich has sentenced three over-60's for membership of a terrorist organization that called itself the Kaiserreichgruppe, which one might loosely translate as the Empire Group.

It's one of the many splintered organizations or cells seen to be part of or at least related to the so-called Reichsbürger and Querdenker movements.

Judge Jochen Bösl said the case was "dealing with the later consequences of COVID," given that the group's militancy stemmed in large part from dissatisfaction with regulations put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

Perhaps most notably, the group is accused of plotting to kidnap then-Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a prominent face during the pandemic, as well as sabotage acts, for instance targeting the electricity supply.

"The group wanted to bring about civil war-equivalent circumstances, so that it could then build up a new societal order on the basis of the 1871 constitution of the [defunct] German Empire," a court spokesman said, quoting the verdict's reasoning. Judge Bösl described it as a "crude and bizarre political position."

The men — aged 60, 62 and 71 — were convicted of membership of a terrorist group and being accessories to the preparation of a treasonous act.

The 62-year-old was handed a jail term of 2 years and 3 months. The 60-year-old received a suspended sentence of a year and 4 months, and the 71-year-old faces a suspended sentence of a year and 9 months.

All three pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities seeking reduced sentences.

Judge Bösl acknowledged that the group may never have had realistic chances of success, but said that, nevertheless, the hurdle to conviction — planning to use weapons and violence — had comfortably been cleared.

What is the banned 'Kingdom of Germany' group?

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A German author, Claudia Wuttke, has told news magazine Der Spiegel that she was raped and filmed by her former partner for more than a decade with no knowledge of the incidents.

What's more, Wuttke said police have since told her that they may not be able to prosecute the acts in 65 of the 67 videos because the five-year statute of limitations has expired.

She said she believes she was drugged and that criminal police investigators had first alerted her to the videos in June 2025.

They had found the video material on a seized laptop. In many cases, they showed her screenshots or described the scenes so that she was not forced to watch them.

In November of the same year, police alerted Wuttke to the likelihood that many of the videos were too old to pursue typical rape charges. She described this as the "second earthquake" in her ordeal.

Although Germany toughened up its laws on rape in many respects in 2016, the statute of limitations for the crime was reduced from 20 years to five, which in Wuttke's unusual case could have severe consequences.

Police told Wuttke that it was possible that only two incidents — the most recent from 2021 and an older crime involving anal penetration with a baseball bat — could be pursued.

Parallels to Pelicot case in France

Spiegel noted the parallels to Gisele Pelicot in France, writing "Wuttke's case threatens to go in quite a different direction."

However, the AFP news agency reported that Hamburg's public prosecutor's office said it was reopening investigations to see if there might be other crimes that can be charged. Rape also involving physical violence, for instance, can have a longer statute of limitations — a distinction Wuttke's lawyer described as "absurd."

Wuttke said she hoped authorities would revisit the laws, whatever the outcome for her personally.

"A change would presumably come too late [for me]," she told Der Spiegel. "But I do not want other woman to have to experience this injustice."

Germany's Environment Ministry says there's no shortage of customers for its new premium paid to people on more modest incomes buying electric vehicles (EVs).

It said on Friday that it had already received around 23,000 applications, having only launched the program this Tuesday.

One reason for the high uptake could be that it is retroactive. Anyone who has already bought a new pure EV, a battery EV with a range extender, or a plug-in hybrid and registered it during the current calendar year is eligible to apply.

According to a ministry spokesman, nine of 10 applications were for electric vehicles and the rest were for plug-in hybrids.

He said around half of the applicants were from households with a taxable income not exceeding €45,000 (roughly $52,200).

Depending on their income and the cost of the car, applicants apply for up to €6,000. Only private vehicles, not company cars, are eligible.

The scheme is aimed at lower and middle earners, with electric vehicles still considerably more expensive to buy than cars with internal combustion engines.

The EU's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, which tend to be much less expensive than comparable European models, exacerbate this issue.

However, the strain on diesel and gasoline prices amid the attack on Iran has led to a recent uptick in EV sales figures in Germany.

The Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, has approved a draft law that says it aims to give pharmacies "more autonomy and flexibility."

The law foresees allowing pharmacies to dispense certain prescription medications without a doctor's orders, particularly when it comes to routine decisions like continuing longstanding prescriptions for known conditions.

It will also apply to some other treatments for "uncomplicated forms of certain acute illnesses."

The Health Ministry is yet to define exactly which cases it will apply to, but has said that it would draw the line at the dispensation of antibiotics with systemic effects and also medications with "high potential for abuse or addiction, like opioid-based medications, hypnotic drugs, sedatives, stimulants and anxyiolytics."

Pharmacies will also be allowed to administer certain other vaccinations — in addition to their existing license for flu and COVID jabs — such as tetanus and tick-borne FSME viruses.

Among other changes, pharmacies will also be authorized to conduct standard blood draws from veins, albeit only on patients over the age of 18. The individuals doing so will be required to have attended a course first.

The number of pharmacies in Germany has been steadily falling for years, hitting a new almost 50-year low of 16,541 as of the end of March.

A German physicians' association, the KBV, warned against taking the reforms too far, saying that medications were "not candies."

Health care in Germany: Inside a system at breaking point

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Firefighters, police and even a beekeeper were dispatched to assist a motorist in Düsseldorf's rush hour on Thursday evening, when a swarm of bees chose the rear of their car as a resting place.

Perhaps drawn in by nominative determinism, they settled on the rear of a red VW Beetle that was stuck at the lights on the corner of Benrather Strasse and Kasernenstrasse in the city center. Several motorists posted pictures and videos online.

Police were called to the scene, and a spokesperson told local broadcaster WDR that there was no danger for passersby, "so long as they kept a sufficient distance."

The incident did however lead to traffic disruptions as the car was stopped in the middle of the road. The driver had been advised to exit the vehicle without risking moving it with the uninvited passengers on board.

A beekeeper in protective gear came to assist emergency services.

Bees frequently swarm to new locations, often as a means for a queen to select the better breeding stock and move with them alone, but it's very rare for them to pick an exposed position in daylight, let alone a vehicle in traffic.

Tagchen and thanks for joining us on a scorching (relatively speaking at least, solidarity to our Delhi crew!) Friday in Bonn.

A bank holiday beckons in several states, and, truth be told, the long weekend vibes are already setting in.

Nevertheless, the Bundestag parliament is in session discussing some planned reforms, like allowing pharmacies to offer more medical services — including certain vaccinations and rapid tests — that until now involved a visit and a wait at the doctor's office.

The Environment Ministry is hailing the uptake of its latest subsidies for people on more modest incomes looking to buy electric cars, saying around 23,000 people have applied this week.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is in Helsingborg, Sweden, for a NATO meeting.

The Ifo business climate index has improved slightly this month after taking a hefty hit amid the war in Iran and wider disruptions in the Middle East.

And a motorist, firefighters, police, and a beekeeper are decompressing after an unusual afternoon in Düsseldorf — when a swarm of bees suddenly and very unusually gathered on a car that was stuck in rush hour traffic. And yes, if you were wondering, it truly was a Beetle (what a pity for the domestic press that the gag doesn't work in German as well as in English).