German police seize guns, swords and crossbows from coup plotters who hoped ‘to reinstate Kaiser’

German police have seized crossbows, guns and night vision goggles from dozens of properties linked to a foiled far-Right plot to re-install a monarchy.

Weapons and munitions were found at over 50 addresses during Wednesday’s raids, Holger Münch, the head of Germany’s Federal Crime Agency, confirmed.

“We’ve found weapons from a crossbow up to guns and munitions. That shows that this isn’t harmless,” Mr Münch told broadcaster ARD.

While Mr Münch assured people that the plot never stood any chance of succeeding, he described it as “dangerous” and said that “now is the time to see just how far they got in their plans.”

The confiscated gear included pistols, swords, stun guns, combat helmets, night vision devices, and service weapons belonging to two police officers, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.

Investigators are also said to have found large quantities of gold and silver.

On Wednesday, German police arrested 25 people, many of whom were pensioners, who are accused of forming a terror cell and planning a coup d’état.

In one of many bizarre details, one of those arrested was Frank Heppner, a famous chef based in the luxury Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuhel.

Mr Heppner was allegedly given responsibility for planning the menu in the canteens of the newly established kingdom as well as organising food for its troops.

Mr Heppner’s daughter is the long-term girlfriend of Real Madrid football star David Alaba, who also captains Austria’s national team.

Prosecutors have said that some of the group had “concrete plans” to storm the Reichstag and were prepared to kill to achieve their goal of installing a new monarchical regime.

A detective involved in the investigation described the plan to Die Welt newspaper as “a horror scenario that has never existed in this form in Germany”.

Many of the plotters are believed to belong to the Citizens of the Reich movement, a loose organisation of some 20,000 people who think that Germany should return to the era of the Kaiser.

While this movement was long dismissed as an assortment of oddballs and conspiracy theorists, prosecutors say that the group’s seriousness should not be underestimated.

They point out that several army officers, both retired and serving, were involved and that they specifically targeted soldiers and police officers for recruitment.

The plotters had already set up a proto-government, in which cabinet posts had been handed out, as well as a military wing.

Meanwhile, a video has emerged that shows one of the plotters hinting that he expected the coup attempt to take place before Christmas.

Maximilian Eder, a former army colonel, told followers on Telegram that an “upheaval” would come in the next few weeks, adding that he “very much hopes that it happens before Christmas”.

At the head of the alleged conspiracy was Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, the great-grandson of the head of a minor royal princedom that existed in central Germany up until the dissolution of the German empire in 1918.

The spectacular arrests are the latest sign of radicalisation among the quixotic mix of anti-vaxxers, esoterics and Kaiser nostalgics who first came together to demonstrate against pandemic measures.

In October, police arrested a 75-year-old woman who they allege was the ringleader of a clandestine plan to kidnap Karl Lauterbach, the country’s health minister.