Investigators: celebrity chef Heppner involved in coup plans
Celebrity chef Frank Heppner is said to have talked about executions and a civil war as part of the "Reichsbürger" scene around Henry XIII Prince Reuss. Investigators believe that the 63-year-old, who was temporarily detained at the end of 2022, was part of some kind of military group.
According to investigators, the German celebrity chef Frank Heppner was involved in the alleged coup plans of the "Reichsbürger" group around Heinrich XIII Prince Reuß. According to research by "Stern", he is also said to have been a member of the so-called "military command staff" of the conspirators. He is one of 69 defendants in one of the largest terror trials in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Heppner protested his innocence to the magazine "Stern".
The research team inspected hundreds of pages of investigators' files, including chat messages and transcripts of tapped phone calls, which provide an insight into the radical fantasy world of the "Reichsbürger". According to the files, Heppner's name was on an internal contact list of the military staff. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, he is said to have been entrusted with buying weapons, recruiting fighters and setting up "homeland security companies" throughout Germany.
The companies were supposed to arrest mayors, judges and public prosecutors throughout Germany after the planned coup in order to execute them or bring them before a court martial.
In telephone calls with suspected ringleaders and accomplices of the group, Heppner is said to have spoken about executions, an impending civil war and that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier should be "put up against the wall". He had also been a member of a chat group with "military officials" since at least August 2022 and took part in meetings.
Many weapons and ammunition found
In early December 2022, the Office of the Attorney General had more than two dozen suspects arrested in Germany, Austria and Italy. These included former officers, police officers, a former AfD member of the Bundestag - and Frank Heppner.
Hundreds of weapons and tens of thousands of pieces of ammunition were seized during the investigation into the "Reichsbürger" group around Heinrich XIII Prince Reuß. In a response from the Federal Ministry of Justice to a question from Green MP Marcel Emmerich at the end of August 2023, 362 firearms, 347 cutting and stabbing weapons and 148,761 pieces of ammunition were mentioned.
Heppner contradicts accusations
Heppner told Stern magazine that he had no knowledge of plans to overthrow the military and had "never" been part of the military staff. The observers must have misheard or misinterpreted what he had said. "I didn't want to shoot anyone. That's nonsense."
He had hoped that someone from the group could get him a lucrative contract for a catering concept for the regular Bundeswehr. The accusations made by the Attorney General were damaging to his business.
Before his temporary arrest, Heppner was a respected caterer who cooked for stars such as Madonna and Mick Jagger. His daughter is in a relationship with Real Madrid soccer star David Alaba.
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During the investigation into the "Reichsbürger" group around Heinrich XIII Prince Reuß, Frank Heppner, the wealthy celebrity chef, was found to be associated with a list of contacts for the group's military staff. According to the prosecutor's office, Heppner was also tasked with procuring weapons, recruiting fighters, and setting up "homeland security companies" across Germany. This information came from the seized chat messages and tapped phone calls during the razzia or raid.
Source: www.ntv.de
