The self-proclaimed "king of Switzerland" Jonas Lauwiner spoke about his project

On May 5, self-proclaimed "king of Switzerland" Jonas Lauwiner told Izvestia about his project, which began with the registration of ownerless land plots.

"It all started with a small pasture that my father gave me. I wanted to expand it and found an abandoned plot nearby without an owner — I took it over myself — and it worked. Then I started looking for such sites all over Switzerland and found many more similar places," he said.

Lauwiner declared himself the "king" in 2019, when he began to register ownerless plots for himself. In total, he received more than 200 such territories, now he has about 149 left.

According to the 31-year-old Swiss, he has no political power and remains a "symbolic figure." Lauwiner receives income from the lease and sale of land. There are roads among his possessions, for the use of which he tried to charge a fee.

In addition, the self—proclaimed "king" created his own currency, the imperial velar. According to him, it has a real value.

Mathieu, a local businessman, noted that Lauwiner's actions were legitimate because he had taken advantage of a loophole. According to him, Switzerland is not a monarchy, but legally the plots are registered in Lauwiner's name, therefore they are considered his property.

At the age of 24, Lauwiner held his own coronation. He created a stylized military uniform and a purple robe, established the Order of Merit and the Imperial Bank, which manages his lands and currency. The Swiss calls his house in Burgdorf a palace, next to it he installed a decommissioned floating tank Mowag Pirat.

His "empire" was based on about 117 thousand square meters of land, including abandoned roads, forest areas and other territories. According to Swiss law, such lands can be acquired for free through the municipality.

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