A celebrity gourmet chef whose daughter is the girlfriend of Real Madrid footballer David Alaba and a former policeman once tasked with protecting Jewish communities from terrorist attacks are among the latest figures to be linked to the foiled Reichsbuerger coup plot in Germany, with more arrests are being made while investigations continue.
Details emerging from the nation’s biggest police operation against right-wing extremism suggest the suspects may have been tipped off in advance of the raids, in which 3,000 police targeted more than 150 addresses in Germany and in Austria and Italy, made 25 arrests.
The number of suspects has risen to 54 by Friday, with more arrests expected. Weapons were found in more than 50 locations, including rifles and ammunition, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The group, inspired by the Reichsbürger ideology that the modern German state was illegitimate, planned to storm the Reichstag building and arrest parliamentarians before overthrowing the government and installing a regime led by a 71-year-old aristocrat as head of state.
Frank Heppner, a star chef from Munich who was arrested on Wednesday at a five-star hotel in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel where he worked, is believed to have been a member of the command staff of the terrorist group’s military arm, responsible for recruiting new members, receiving of weapons and other equipment, as well as building a fault-tolerant communication and IT structure. He was also tasked with running the canteen that would provide food for the members of the so-called “New German Army”.
Austrian daily Die Presse, citing investigators, said Heppner, 62, was also supposed to be personal chef to Heinrich XIII, Prince of Reuss, after he was installed as king. It said Heppner provided the group with money, cooking utensils, a camper and an emergency generator.
Heppner’s daughter, Shalimar, 28, is in a relationship with Alaba, a professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid and captains the Austrian national team. The couple have a son, born in 2019. Alaba did not respond to requests for comment, according to German media that tried to contact him.
Others said to have been part of the group include a former police officer tasked with protecting Jewish communities from terrorist attacks. Michael Fritsch was arrested with his partner Melanie Ritter near Hanover in northern Germany.
Fritsch, 58, was suspended in 2020 and later fired after appearing at protests organized by Covid deniers. He later became a parliamentary candidate for DieBasis, the political party of the Covid-denying Querdenker movement. His process to appeal his dismissal has not yet ended.
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland continued to try to distance itself on Friday from its former member, Birgit Malsack-Vinkmann, a sitting judge who was arrested at her home in West Berlin on Wednesday morning for being one of the key conspirators. Her role after the coup was to be Minister of Justice.
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There have been widespread calls for an overhaul of access to the Reichstag. Malsack-Vinkmann, who as a former MP had access to the parliament building, is said to have provided the group’s military arm with vital logistical information on how to gain entry.
“Reintroduced access control of former AfD MPs to the Bundestag is a necessity after the Malsack-Winkemann revelations,” said Constantin Kule, deputy leader of the pro-business liberals, calling on security forces to ban anyone they deem a potential security risk.
The extent to which the group had the capacity to turn its power fantasies into reality remains a matter of heated debate. According to Der Spiegel magazine, among the items confiscated in the raid were 9mm pistols, swords, knives, stun guns, combat helmets, night vision equipment and the service weapons of a policeman and policewoman, who are among the suspects.
Left-wing daily Die Tageszeitung reported that investigators had found a “hit list” with 18 names and addresses on it of prominent German politicians and journalists the group may have intended to attack. Among them were Foreign Minister Analena Berbock, along with six other members of the Bundestag and three public media presenters.
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