Extreme right | Neo-Nazis with king and club premises

It couldn't be clearer. The neo-Nazis hiked through the Teutoburg Forest, from the Hermann Monument to the Externsteine, both popular cult sites of the extreme right. The men had made it more difficult for themselves with weighted vests. And as a reward, they received a lovingly crafted wooden plaque bearing the triskelion, a Celtic symbol often used in these circles as a substitute for the banned swastika. Surrounding it were the words "Cherusker Feldzug" (Cheruscan Campaign) and the numbers 318. Almost all of the participants belonged to the militant right-wing extremist organization Combat 18 Germany , which was banned in 2020 for its "essential affinity with National Socialism" and its propensity for violence. "318" stood for "C18," or Combat 18. The problem: The hike through the Teutoburg Forest took place a year after the ban. The Federal Prosecutor's Office therefore considers this winter "performance march" to be one of many indications that Combat 18 Germany continued illegally. The trial against the four alleged ringleaders has now begun before the Dortmund Regional Court.

As before the ban , Stanley R. from Eisenach is said to have served as the leader. "Due to his prominent role, he is referred to as 'king' by the members," the indictment states. The 49-year-old set up a "clubhouse" in the basement of his house, with a Combat 18 flag above the bar. The fact that the militancy at Stanley R. & Co. is accompanied by bizarre narrow-mindedness had already become apparent before the ban, when the research group Exif published the "guidelines" of Combat 18 Germany, with meticulous regulations on membership fees, dress code, and "mandatory meetings." The indictment lists almost 20 meetings of the banned group between October 2020 and March 2022. In addition to hikes, birthday parties, and right-wing rock concerts, there was also an entrance exam for new members and networking with other neo-Nazi organizations such as the Eisenach-based martial arts group Knockout 51, which is being prosecuted by the Federal Prosecutor's Office as a terrorist organization.

Combat 18 – the numbers stand for Adolf Hitler's initials – was founded in Great Britain in the 1990s as the armed wing of the neo-Nazi network Blood & Honour, and has branches in numerous countries. It espouses aggressive racism and anti-Semitism, combined with calls for the establishment of small, independently operating terrorist cells based on the strategy of "leaderless resistance." Although Blood & Honour was banned in Germany in 2000, Combat 18 was allowed to continue operating in the country for another two decades. The "Brothers of Honour," presumably founded as a replacement for Blood & Honour, remained unchallenged even longer: Just this week, authorities cracked down on the biker-like organization in raids in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and North Rhine-Westphalia.

The men now on trial in Dortmund, all of whom have remained silent on the charges, have all achieved a certain level of prominence within the scene. Stanley R., who has a previous conviction for, among other things, smuggling ammunition and violating the ban on Blood & Honour, was part of the circle of the later murderer of Walter Lübcke in Kassel after the turn of the millennium. Keven L. (44) from Eisenach, his "right-hand man" according to the indictment, ran for the now-defunct micro-party "Die Rechte" in Karlsruhe. Right-wing rock dealer Gregor Alexander M. (45) from Rhineland-Palatinate was behind bars for a brutal act of revenge against an alleged "traitor." And Robin S., originally from Dortmund but now registered in Baden-Württemberg, is a right-wing extremist hyperactivist, attending demonstrations and concerts as well as being a brown-leaning TikToker. He spent eight years in prison for shooting an immigrant man during a robbery. But he became known above all through the intimate correspondence he had with the NSU terrorist Beate Zschäpe.

The female lawyers from the scene who hired the men, by the way, don't think the code "318" is so clear. One suggests it could stand for "Cherusker am Hermann." Another suggests that the date—January 3, 2021—and the number of participants could also be meant. However, according to the photos seized, there were only seven. Eleven more days of hearings are scheduled for the trial until September.