Reich translates as realm. They considered the First Reich to be the Holy Roman Empire. They refer to the Second Reich as the German Empire after the Holy Roman Empire, up and through World War I. They don't consider the Weimar Republic, which they hate, the Third Reich. They consider that the interim Reich. And they consider themselves the Third Reich, the heir to the German Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. Once Hitler and the Nazis get power, they really get a stranglehold on it.