Nine men went on trial in Germany on Monday, charged with high treason, attempted murder and plotting a violent coup d'etat aimed at installing an aristocrat as national leader and imposing martial law.

The hearing in a maximum security courtroom in Stuttgart marks the start of three marathon trials of 27 people in total, accused of conspiring in a plot foiled by authorities at the end of 2022. Together, they amount to one of the largest legal proceedings in German history.

Monday's trial focuses on nine suspects, members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) group, who allegedly aimed to impose harsh military law on Germany after carrying out a coup.

The country's domestic intelligence service Verfassungsschutz put the Reichsbuergers, who it says number some 21,000 people and who do not recognize modern-day Germany as a legitimate state, under observation in 2016.

The political leadership of the group on trial, led by real estate investor Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss — scion of a now throneless dynasty — is set to appear in a Frankfurt court next month. Another group of suspects, including an astrologer, will stand trial in Munich for June.

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