Kesselbourg

Principality of Kesselbourg Fürstentum Kesselbuerg (Hoeltish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "esto perpetua" "Let it be perpetual"
Anthem: Un der Freed "Ode to Joy"
Kesselbourg (dark green) in Euclea (light green and light grey) and in the Euclean Community (light green).
Capital and largest city	Kesselbourg City
Official languages	Hoeltish
Demonym(s)	Kesselbourgish Kesselbourger
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Prince	Christophe
• Premier	Wout Wanser-Plas
Legislature	States-General
Independence from Hennehouwe
• Principality	985
• Union with Hennehouwe	1666
• Independence from Hennehouwe	January 7, 1856
• Government-in-exile	March 19, 1926
• Independence from Gaullica	February 12, 1935
• EC member state	January 1, 1948
Area
• Total	8,074 km2 (3,117 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	2,867,813
• 2018 census	2,801,226
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	€231.3 billion
• Per capita	€80,658
GDP (nominal)	2015 estimate
• Total	€236.8 billion
• Per capita	€82,581
Gini (2011)	31.2 medium
HDI (2013)	0.939 very high
Currency	Euclo (€) (EUC)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+352
Internet TLD	.kb

Kesselbourg (Hoeltish: Kesselbuerg), officially the Principality of Kesselbourg (Hoeltish: Fürstentum Kesselbuerg) is a landlocked country in Eastern Euclea. It borders Kirenia to the west, Hennehouwe to the east, and Gaullica to the south. With a population of just over 2.8 million and an area of 8,074 km², it is the second-smallest sovereign state in Euclea by both population and area, behind only Montecara. A constitutional monarchy, Kesselbourg's head of state is nominally the Prince of Kesselbourg, currently Christophe, though the prince is a figurehead who only exercises nominal power. The States-General is led by the Premier of Kesselbourg, currently Klaas-Jan Gerner. It is known internationally for being the location of the headquarters of many geopolitical organisations, including the Euclean Community and Community of Nations.

The area that is now Kesselbourg is thought to have been inhabited by Weranic tribes before its annexation by the Solarian Empire in the 1st century. The Solarians built in a fort in the area to protect the empire from barbarian raids from the west and the north, with the town developing around it. During the later years of the Solarian Empire, Kesselbourg eventually fell under the sovereignty of the Kings of Gallenmark, a vassal state to the empire. As the empire fell, Kesselbourg emerged as a small principality whose lands comprised its eponymous capital city and the rural localities surrounding it. In 985, the papacy recognised Prince Otto's title, elevating Kesselbourg to a papally-recognised monarchy. For much of its early history, Kesselbourg remained a small rural town between Northern and Eastern Euclea.

The beginning of the Amendist Wars in 1582 sparked a religious crisis in Kesselbourg. Subject to influence from both the Catholic Gaullica and Amendist Hennehouwe, Leopold III, himself a Catholic, attempted to implement a solution that recognised both religions. Leopold died in 1585, and was succeeded by his son Leopold IV, who converted to Amendism shortly after his accession. His conversion prompted papal condemnation and Gaullica invaded, sieged and razed the city shortly after. During the ensuing occupation and the remainder of the wars, Kesselbourg was largely destroyed by several raids and sieges by enemy forces as well as plundering and looting by the Gaullican occupants. The Peace of Frankendorf eventually restored Kesselbourgish sovereignty under Prince Roland. In 1666, the principality entered a personal union with Hennehouwe, and in 1689 it was annexed directly, with Kesselbourgish institutions kept separate. Under Hennish and Gaullican sovereignty, Kesselbourg was largely rebuilt using funds from their expansive colonial and trade empires. Gaullica's loss in the War of the Triple Alliance allowed Kesselbourg to secure its independence again in 1855 at the Congress of Torazza.

The States-General was reintroduced in 1871, with universal manhood suffrage introduced in 1902 and universal suffrage later in 1921. Neutrality was enshrined in the country's law in 1902, preventing any government from declaring or participating in any wars of its own volition. Kesselbourg was invaded and annexed by Gaullica in 1926, prompting the introduction of a government-in-exile in Werania that same year. Kesselbourgish sovereignty was reintroduced once more at the Treaty of s'Holle, and the principality was chosen as the capital of the new Community of Nations. In 1948, it became a founding member of the Euclean Community, also becoming its capital city.

As a country, Kesselbourg ranks highly on indexes such as democracy, quality of life, liberty and human rights. Its GDP per capita is the highest in the world and the country itself is host to hundreds of companies and international organisations, who often take advantage of Kesselbourg's low tax rates, which has led some to call it a tax haven. It ranks high on environmental quality and Kesselbourg City is consistently ranked amongst Euclea's greenest cities. Kesselbourg is a member of the Community of Nations, Euclean Community (as well as the Euclozone and Zilverzee Area), the Global Institute of Fiscal Affairs and the International Trade Organisation, among many others.

Etymology

It is believed that the name of Kesselbourg (Hoeltish: Kesselbuerg) comes from Solarian: castellum, meaning castle, and Kesselbourgish: Buerg, meaning castle; thus, the name of Kesselbourg essentially means "castle castle". However, "castellum" is different to "Buerg" in that "castellum" is a diminutive of a purely military fortification, while "Buerg" has the connotation of city. A more contextualised analysis of the etymology of Kesselbourg may therefore suggest its name refers to a fortified town on the site of a Solarian fort or encampment. This is supported by the fact that the original Kesselbourgish settlers would not have been able to analyse the Solarian language to deduce that it was already named castle (thus appending the suffix meaning castle), and archaeological evidence which suggests a fortified town did in fact grow on the site of a Solarian fort, rebuilding the fort's walls and towers entirely in stone to form the citadel which is today colloquially the Old City area.

History

Solarian

The territory of modern day Kesselbourg was annexed sometime around the 1st century into the Solarian Empire.

Records indicate a small Solarian fort was built on the site of modern central Kesselbourg City in the 3rd century, presumably to defend against barbarian raids, built of both wood and stone. The fort was maintained for less than a century before being abandoned; in the following centuries the Solarian presence faded entirely with the fall of the Solarian Empire. Fragments of carved maps suggest the fort may have been called Julia Viridium, roughly translating to "City of Julius/Julia in the Green", though this is only one interpretation (others posit that the fragments were an appellation for the region, or only describing the land as green).

Early medieval

In 566, Saint Bermudius (also known as Saint Ebermud in Weranic languages, and Saint Bermude in Gaullican) visited the area of modern Kesselbourg. He describes an episode in which he preaches to two small warring tribes to cease their fighting, and persuades them to bury all the weapons which they have used in their conflict thus far beneath the branches of a certain elm tree, near a fort inhabited by a third tribe. A cache of Weranic-style weapons was discovered by builders renovating a house just outside the Old City of Kesselbourg in 1956, believed to be the weapons described by Saint Bermudius. This confirms that by 566, the fort was inhabited, though whether it was continuously inhabited from this time to the next historical mention of it is unclear. Saint Bermudius also wrote about the area in general, providing much information about the region. He made several more trips attempting to convert those in the area but died on one of these trips in unknown circumstances in 578.

The "salt-producing" town of "Castelleburgus" is mentioned in a Gaullican manuscript dating to 898 as a town that is "not sinful" due to its "giving alms" (the text resembles a rehearsed sermon).

In 985, the Solarian Catholic Pope wrote to Otto vu Kesselbuerg, styling himself Count of Kesselbourg, granting him the title of Prince of Kesselbourg. Some posit that this was because of Otto's warlike attitude towards local pagans, while others contest that the Pope would not have approved of such aggression or that the pagans in the area would have been too insignificant.

There is some evidence that during the Varangian Age, many fled from coastal regions to inland regions such as Kesselbourg as refugees from raiders.

In 1189, Prince Rolf I granted the town of Kesselbourg certain rights; while modelled off various charters of towns in Werania, it was largely an original document and was adopted by some surrounding towns as they too acquired town rights. In the documentation surrounding the charter, however, it is explicitly mentioned that Rolf I maintains control of the salt mines around the city, establishing that there was significant salt mining in the area by the 12th century.

Rolf I's son, George I, aligned with the Ringian League in 1199, after conceding some bordering vineyards and other assets to Verliquois.

High medieval

Kesselbourg gained renown throughout the Middle Ages as a notable producer of higher-quality mined salt, and as a local cattle market. In 1236, the main church was ravaged by fire and the large Saint Barbara's Cathedral was built to replace it funded half by Prince Albert IV, half by the town's coffers, making the city somewhat of a religious centre. The building was transitional between the Solarianesque and Gaullican architectural styles.

Prince John II created the Estates of Kesselbourg in 1301, creating three bodies which would convene together and advise and consult with the king, with the clergy, the burghers and the peasants represented; he did not grant the nobility an estate as he perceived that he himself was close enough to them that an estate representation was unnecessary. He convened the General Estates around once a year, helping him to raise more revenue and keep discontent down, as he was a charismatic and skilled negotiator.

Politics and government

Kesselbourg is a unitary state, whose head-of-state role is exercised by a constitutional monarch, whose powers are figurehead-like in nature. The country's unicameral legislature is the States-General of Kesselbourg, which is elected every six years (the last time in 2019) using the Menshikov-Fonvizin-Marissens method of proportional distribution. Kesselbourg's head-of-government is the Premier, usually chosen as the leader of the largest party in the coalition. The current prince is Christophe, who has ruled since 1991, and the current premier is Wout Wanser-Plas, who has held office since 2019, leading a coalition government consisting of The Ecologists, the Free Liberal Party, Kesselbourgish People's Party and Geneesmiddel.

Kesselbourg's constitution is a codified document that is nominally the supreme law of the land. The constitution was first introduced in 1871, which outlined means of civilian government, with major revisions coming in 1902, where universal manhood suffrage and constitutional neutrality were introduced, 1921, where universal suffrage was introduced, and in 1935 where the powers of the monarchy were curtailed and those of the States-General elevated. The Kesselbourgish judiciary is organised on two levels, the staatsrechtbanken (state courts), who are the top level of courts in the country and deal with major offenses, and the kantonale rechtbanken (cantonal courts), who deal with minor offenses on a cantonal or municipal level.