Lilienburg

Free City of Lilienburg Freistadt Lilienburg (Lilienburger Herusian)
Flag Cockade
Motto: "Fraternity Above All"
Capital and largest city	Lilienburg
Official languages	Lilienburger Herusian
Demonym(s)	Lilienburger
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic with elements of syndicalism and direct democracy
• Mayor	Helena Weissmann
• Chancellor	Hermann Thaler
Legislature	Stadtshaus
• Upper house	Landshaus
• Lower house	Volkshaus
Establishment
• Free City established	1551
• Schiltach Ascendancy	1810
• Edelweiss Uprising	1893
• Annexation by Hytekojuznia	1905
• Free City re-established	1916
Area
• Total	3,546 km2 (1,369 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 census	607,183
• Density	171.23/km2 (443.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2017 estimate
• Total	$24.405 billion
• Per capita	$40,193
Gini (2017)	19.9 low
HDI (2017)	0.897 very high
Currency	Lilienburger mark
Calling code	+328
Internet TLD	.li

Lilienburg, officially the Free City of Lilienburg (Lilienburger Herusian: Freistadt Lilienburg), is a city-state located within Erdara, bordering Tudonia to the south, Mascylla to the east, Hytekia to the west and Lake Sigismund to the north-east. The nation is the smallest in Erdara, with an area of 3,546 square kilometers, consisting of the namesake city of Lilienburg, where the overwhelming majority of the nation's 607,183 residents live, and the surrounding countryside.

The city's existence is first recorded in the 11th century as a small market town and fishing village. In the 12th century, however, it became the location of a significant monastery during the 12th century and the town started to grow around the monastery. The monastery gained a reputation for scholastic work as time went on, and in 1415 the University of Lilienburg was opened by the monastic order to educate monks and civil servants, largely focusing on classics and theology. The university, being the first in Erdara, would eventually eclipse the town's other industries and become the town's raison d'être as scholars, monks and priests flocked to the town.

During the 16th century the university town would assert itself as an independent city; the city's council, consisting of property owners, nobles and university graduates, would become the sole authority over the city and it declared itself the Free City of Lilienburg. The city was headed by a Mayor, who was often a member of one of the city's merchant families during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

The 19th century would see the city change significantly. The House of Schiltach would come to dominate the city's government between 1810 and 1893, with the Mayor being from the House of Schiltach for the whole of that period. This was also a period in which the city industrialised and the population markedly increased to sustain this industrialisation, creating new industrial neighbourhoods of the city and drastically altering the city's social structure. However, this led to a large working-class and a growing middle-class who opposed the conservatism of the Schiltach dynasty and rallied behind the ideologies of socialism and liberalism. They were largely behind the 1893 Edelweiss Uprising, in which the House of Schiltach and the aristocracy in general were deposed in favour of a state based on popular sovereignty.

However, this new state would not last long; it was marred by divisions between socialists and liberals and a general economic decline, and after 12 years it was annexed by Hytekojuznia in a controversial move that would pave the way for the Continental War. However, Hytekojuznia would lose this war and an independent Lilienburg was re-established. The liberal-socialist divide would continue in the new republic, yet a strong trade union movement would develop which would lead to the dominance of the socialists for much of the 20th century.

Today Lilienburg is a highly developed country with very high levels of social equality, and is both a founding member and the capital of the Erdaran Union. Its economy and political system have been of much interest to economists and political theorists, with many describing the city's economy as using a democratic socialist model based on the dominance of trade unions and co-operatives in a parliamentary democracy. The city has also been noted for its namesake university's prestige and research, and it is also considered a cultural hub in terms of music, comedy, theatre, film and cabaret.

Politics and Government

Mayor Helena Weissmann

Chancellor Hermann Thaler

Lilienburg is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic with elements of syndicalism and direct democracy. The city has no codified constitution, with what is termed the "Constitution of Lilienburg" being a collection of important legal documents detailing the relations of various parts of government, of which the 1551 Proclamation of the Free City and the 1893 Citizen's Declaration are the most important.

The city's legislative power is invested in the Stadtshaus, which is a bicameral body consisting of two chambers. The first of these is the Volkshaus, which consists of 72 representatives elected by the people of the city every three years using the single transferrable vote method of election. The second of these is the Landshaus, which consists of 40 members representing various trade unions, co-operative business, employers and health and education boards, as well as representatives of the civil service and the university. While the Landshaus is only able to delay legislation and cannot deny a government confidence, its verdict is rarely questioned and it has the right to reject budgets.

While officially executive power is placed in the Mayor of Lilienburg and their Cabinet, in reality executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, which is headed by a Chancellor. The position of Chancellor is appointed by the Mayor and is given to the person most likely to hold the confidence of the house. Like in most parliamentary systems, the Chancellor and their Cabinet must retain the continued confidence of the Volkshaus and can be removed through a simple majority in a vote of no confidence. The position of Mayor is elected every six years by a plurality system and expected to be non-partisan: they are expected to give up any party or trade union membership upon election.

Currently the Mayor of Lilienburg is Helena Weissmann, an independent politician and former musician and the Chancellor is Hermann Thaler of The Greens, who leads a coalition of the Greens and the Social Labour Rally.

Geography

Lilienburg is the smallest country in Erdara at only 3,546 square kilometres, being approximately 72 kilometres long and 103 kilometres wide.

A typical field in Sigismundsfeld.

To the south, Lilienburg borders the Tudonian region of Falien and to the east, it borders the Mascyllary state of Gothern. The Free City also borders theHytekian province of Zigmundsesers-Grobina to the north-west and Lake Sigismund, the biggest freshwater lake in Erdara, to the north-east.

The southern half of the country makes up an area known as the Rotefeld, consisting of rolling hills, plains and sparse forests, with its highest point being outside the hamlet of Sipplingen at 192m above seal level. The Rotefeld has a very low population density, with much of its population concentrated in small villages and hamlets geared towards farming, with only one settlement of over two thousand people, Oberlinden.

The northern half of the country, Sigismundsfeld, is much more populated, consisting of flat terrain on the banks of Lake Sigismund. The city is located centrally in this area, extending from the lake's shore towards the beginning of the Rotefeld. The terrain rarely exceeds three metres above sea level in the entirety of Sigismundsfeld, and the extremely flat terrain extends into both Mascylla and Hytekia. This extremely flat terrain on both sides of the city has made the city very easy to invade, as seen in the 1905 Edelweiss Crisis.

A rock formation in the mortth of Rotefeld.

The city state has been highlighted as a world leader in environmental protection, being ranked 3rd in 2015 worldwide by the Environmental Protection Index, and the namesake city has topped the list of Erdaran cities with the cleanest air for three years running.

The nation's climate has been categorised as Cfb on the Köppen climate classification, which denotes an oceanic climate. This describes the country's high levels of precipitation, warm summers, cool winters and a generally temperate climate overall.