At dawn on Wednesday 3,000 German police and special forces arrested dozens of members of the Reichsbürger movement, a diffuse far-right extremist alliance whose members question the legal authority of the German government.
Those arrested are suspected of plotting a coup that would install one of them as a new German monarch.
It is a story that blends German history with modern Q-Anon conspiracy theories and far-right politics.
In Germany the coup plot is front-page news, even if less discussed than the failure of the national football team at the World Cup, says Berlin correspondent Derek Scally.
Trump calls Zelenskiy a ‘dictator without elections’
Analysis: Trump’s dash for a Ukraine deal is a godsend to Putin’s regime
Ireland would consider sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in event of ceasefire, Taoiseach indicates
John McManus: Would you be happy to see your neighbours build a second home in the garden?
But while the plotters appear to be something of a motley crew, the case should be a wake-up call in a country with a dark history of far-right politics and recent problems with extremism within its own military.
On this episode of In the news, Derek tells the strange story to Conor Pope.
