Terror suspect Maximilian Eder gives interview in custody: “Reuß used as a financier”

The Landshut correctional facility is just a few minutes’ drive outside the city, between bright fields of grain and flower meadows. Outside the high concrete walls, a blackbird chirps in a tree, while inside a suspected terrorist is led by a correctional officer into a room measuring around ten square meters.

The room is divided by a plexiglass partition: on one side star-Reporter, guarded by two police officers from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office. On the other, Maximilian Eder sits down on a wooden chair. He has a laptop bag with books and briefcases, which he carefully distributes on the narrow shelf under the window. Eder, 65, was once a respected Bundeswehr colonel. Now the man with shoulder-length white hair appears vulnerable. The cheeks are sunken, the blue prisoner’s clothing is sagging on the thin arms and legs, apparently the result of a 35-day hunger strike last year.

Eder has been in custody since December 2022, and the second of three trials in this mammoth case begins on Tuesday in Frankfurt am Main. This time in the dock: Eder and other central figures in the alleged terrorist organization surrounding the Frankfurt real estate entrepreneur Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuss. The Federal Prosecutor General considers Eder to be one of the group’s founders. According to the indictment, she is said to have planned to overthrow the federal government by force of arms. Among other things, Eder found a draft of a government declaration for the period after a coup. He is also said to have ordered, among other things, weapons and recruited soldiers for the coup.

A team of reporters from star and RTL had access to more than 400,000 documents from the investigation files and published more than a dozen texts and a TV documentary that provided deep insights into the inner workings of the Reich Citizens’ Group. As the star Eder sent an extensive list of questions – the idea of ​​conducting an interview arose.

Surprisingly, it was Eder himself who suggested an interview. Against the explicit advice of his defense lawyers. A terror suspect giving an interview in prison, even before the trial begins? Has this ever happened before in the history of the Federal Republic? The responsible higher regional court approved the visit star-Reporter in the detention center. It’s an experiment under difficult conditions: around 60 minutes, monitored by the State Criminal Police Office, recorded by a voice recorder. One hour to discuss the most important questions in one of the largest state security proceedings in the history of the Federal Republic. Too short to give an answer to everything. And yet enough time for Eder to be exposed in the event of contradictions.

Before the interview begins, Eder says he will not incriminate any co-defendants. He only wants one thing for the interview: “factual, unbiased reporting.”

Mr. Eder, you are about to face one of the largest terror trials ever in Germany. If you are convicted, you would face a long prison sentence. You haven’t even given a statement to the police yet. Why are you giving an interview now – so shortly before the trial begins?
I also offered the investigators the opportunity to testify in full. This offer has not yet been accepted. There has been a lot of media coverage about me in the past year and a half. I think it’s good when someone finally talks to me instead of just about me. It is important to me to present my view of the matter.