From an organisation to a state: The 'Kingdom of Germany' and its organisers

A man steps onto the stage. Other men and women take their places on either side of him; they drape a red cloak around him. He is then presented with the Imperial Orb and the Imperial Sceptre, which he carefully places on a festively decorated table. He is also presented with a crown and a sword. He then turns to face the people in the hall. On 16 September 2012, Peter Fitzek, who had just been elected 'Supreme Sovereign', proclaimed the 'Kingdom of Germany'. Its territory consists of a former hospital site on the outskirts of Lutherstadt Wittenberg. This text examines the nature of this entity and the power structures that prevail within it. First, the author attempts to explain and, at the same time, legitimise states - not on the basis of social contracts à la Rousseau or similar theories - but by drawing on the philosophical anthropology of Berger and Luckmann.