Germany has arrested eight people for plotting a coup

German police have arrested 8 suspected members of the opposition group, who were suspected of planning an uprising against the Nazi regime.

Prosecutors say the group – known as the Saechsische Separatisten or “Saxony Separatists” – is training for war to overthrow the German government and society, which they believe will come on an unspecified “X Day”.

After that day, the group was said to be planning to take over eastern Germany by force and establish a far-right regime.

More than 450 police searched and arrested across Germany, Austria and Poland in an attempt to break up the group.

Prosecutors say the group plans to form a government “inspired by National Socialism” – a totalitarian ideology aligned with Adolf Hitler's Nazi party.

The eight suspects have been named in part as Kurt H, Karl K, Kevin M, Hans-Georg P, Kevin R, Jörg S, Jörn S and Norman T.

Seven of them were arrested in Germany, while Jörg S – the alleged leader of the group – was arrested in Poland.

Additional searches were conducted in Vienna and the Krems-Land District of Austria.

All eight have been arrested on suspicion of being members of a domestic terrorist organization.

The Saxon Separatists were founded in 2020 and have between 15 and 20 members, according to German prosecutors.

The group's views are characterized by “racist, anti-Semitic and partly apocalyptic views,” prosecutors said.

“This organization believes without a doubt that Germany is 'close to 'collapse'' and that the government and society will enter on 'X Day',” they added.

After overrunning parts of the country through urban warfare, the group allegedly plans to remove “undesirable groups” from these areas through “ethnic cleansing”.

The group's members, including the eight arrested suspects, “have repeatedly completed military training,” prosecutors said.

The Minister of the Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, thanked the security forces who said they had dispersed “another suspected terrorist group of opposition terrorists.”

It comes after a separate alleged coup plot, led by the so-called Reichsbuerger movementrevealed in 2022.

That group, which was once dismissed as criminals, was said to be planning to arrest members of Parliament in Berlin on a day they called “X Day”.

The plot would have seen Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, 72, installed as “head of state”, prosecutors said at the time. Prince Reuss denied being involved.

When nine members of the group, including Prince Reuss, went on trial in May this year, their defense lawyer said: “They're not terrorists. They're a little crazy.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the suspected members of the Saxony Separatists will appear before a judge, who will read the arrest warrants and make decisions about their detention before the trial.