Maximilian Eder takes a seat in the dock. He looks pale. The air is heavy from the many people in the hall. All chairs are occupied. Eder, facing the audience, forms a heart with his hands. His fans applaud and cheer. Supporters had asked for help in court in Telegram groups. “Retired Colonel Max Eder would like to make a comprehensive statement about himself in the proceedings in order to counter defamation in the press,” it said. Around two dozen came.
This Thursday morning, the public prosecutor’s office accused Eder of driving four times under the influence of alcohol and without a license. In one case he is said to have caused an accident with property damage amounting to five figures. The court has scheduled two days for the case. Such a case before a district court is usually of little interest to anyone other than those affected.
But this is not a normal case.
Eder will soon appear before the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court. He is a defendant in one of the largest terror trials in the history of the Federal Republic. According to the Federal Prosecutor General, he was one of the central players in the alleged terrorist group around Henry XIII. Prince Reuss. He sees the retired Bundeswehr colonel. D. as co-founder of a group that, according to the indictment, wanted to overthrow the federal government by force of arms and take power itself.
For Eder, in his mid-60s, in Frankfurt, the question may be whether he will spend another day in freedom in his life.
In Munich it can be seen that he is rather unwilling to sit silently in the dock and will only listen to how others talk about him.
An hour before the trial begins, two women stand outside the courtroom and wait. One of the two, an older lady, grandmother-type, says she came especially from Tyrol. People talk about “the lying press”, about pedo crime that the state would not prosecute and alleged assassination attempts on Eder. The woman first met Eder three years ago, she says. “I got to know him as a really nice guy,” she says.
Anyone who wants to enter the courtroom will be thoroughly searched. This doesn’t go down well with Eder’s supporters. A woman in her mid-40s is not allowed into the hall by the judicial officers; she has come without a valid identity card. She complains about a “two-class society.” As a “global lawyer,” she knows that exactly. What exactly she means by that remains a mystery, and not just to the judicial officers.
Things continue to get heated in the courtroom. “Get your shit out of there,” a man shouts at a reporter who has placed her jacket on the back of a chair.
A visitor calls out to a photographer: “Oh, the anti-fascist is there too.”
That’s pretty much the tone of this day.
Next: Maximilian Eder appears.
“Mr. Eder,” says his lawyer Dalla Fini right at the beginning, “would like to speak in detail about himself.”
Eder sits in front of his two defenders, he sets up his microphone and opens a laptop.
It feels human, says Eder, to finally see loved ones again, without a partition. “I can finally feel human again.” His words roll along in a broad Bavarian dialect.
It is the start of a monologue lasting several hours in which Eder gives insights into his life. He moves from rank to rank in his Bundeswehr career, gets tangled up in anecdotes and gets lost in details.
Maximilian Eder, it becomes clear after a few sentences in the courtroom, obviously likes to listen to Maximilian Eder when he speaks. You could already observe this at Corona demos. Videos show how Eder complained about the state and politics. Sometimes he held two microphones in front of his mouth at the same time.
At some point the presiding judge loses patience. “Could you perhaps be a little more brief?” she asks.
But Eder talks himself into a rage. At one point he speaks of a three-day lesson in political education in the early 1990s, with “only 25 marks for food.”
The judge asks: “To what extent is this important for drunk driving in 2022?”
“Because we admittedly drank a lot on those evenings,” says Eder. Laughter in the hall. The judge also seems amused.
Eder delves into a dark conspiracy story that has been bothering him for a long time and will be part of the terror trial. He speaks of “ritual satanic pedophilia”, of children who are allegedly kidnapped and abused.
After hours, Eder talks about his difficult childhood and stressful experiences in war zones, and you get the feeling that he is actually explaining something. He comes from a humble background. His parents, strict Catholics, wanted him to become a priest. When he was ten, says Eder, his father became “dependent on alcohol.” When he was 13, his mother died in a car accident. Eder collapses in his chair, his voice becoming fragile.
Later, as a soldier, he was in Kosovo and Afghanistan, among other places. During his missions he had to see and hear stressful things; Eder speaks of dismembered corpses, raped women, and high pressure during operations.
Alcohol has repeatedly played a role in stressful situations in his life, says Eder.
“It became noticeable for me during the Corona period.” His wife had previously separated from him and one thing had led to another.
“At this stage I thought: I can’t take this anymore. I don’t want to live in a society like that anymore.” He drank excessively during this time. This is also the time of the drunkenness cases for which he is in this court.
After the lunch break, the process takes a sudden turn. Eder is tired. He says he wants to make a confession. “I’ve only slept two or three hours for the past few nights. I can’t take it anymore.” He says that pre-trial detention is giving him a lot of trouble. After a brief consultation with his lawyer, he admits the cases of drunk driving. He says he wants to do a few more things and then his tasks in this life will be accomplished. During Eder’s time in custody, it was noted in the Landshut correctional facility that he was at risk of suicide.
“The truth is coming out, Max! The truth!” shouts a spectator as broad-shouldered judicial officers surround Eder and one handcuffs him. He smiles as he is led out of the hall.
The verdict is due next Tuesday. But Eder’s appearance on this day may already give an idea of what the judges in Frankfurt can expect. On this day, Maximilian Eder seems like a person removed from the earth.
