Reichsburger mentality is increasingly spreading to Switzerland Reichsburger mentality is spreading more and more to Switzerland

Since the pandemic, the Swiss authorities have also increasingly struggled with arguments that reject the state. Like the citizens of the German Reich, more and more individuals in Switzerland are hostile to state institutions.

At their last meeting, all the governors of Zurich had to realize that they were struggling with the same problems in their respective districts: letters were returned unopened, requests from the authorities ignored, statements refused. Some of these “querulants” also behave aggressively towards the authorities, as the “Tagesanzeiger” writes.

Jacqueline Fehr, the director of justice for the Canton of Zurich, says the conspiracy theorists are in the picture. Of course one can defend oneself democratically against government measures, such as governorships, but it is problematic if this results in a fundamentally anti-state attitude.

Jerome Endrass, deputy chief of the Zurich correctional services office, is also observing the developments. It is clear to him that the conspiracy ideology emerging in Switzerland has many similarities with the German citizens. In particular, the radically anti-state attitude supported by conspiracy theories. According to Endrass, the myth of the German Reich is missing in this country, he tells the Tagesanzeiger.

Although the circumstances and the scale of the situation in this country cannot be compared to Germany, the developments are questionable: “An ideology that rejects the state is not necessarily violent, but its spread lays the foundations for extremist acts .” The step to violence is smaller if the rejection of the state is part of the consensus.

(cpf)