Duchy of Firburg

Duchy of Firburg
**Firburské vévodství**
**Fiŕburskij vajval**
Duchy of Firburg; Firburské vévodství; Fiŕburskij vajval
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Všichni spolu jako jeden! (Czech) All together as one!
	Anthem: "Firburk pro každého" (Czech) ; Firburg for everone;
Capital and largest city	Malý Kuklík
Official languages	Czech; Firburgian
Other languages	List English ; Slovak ; Ukrainian ; Nissiian;
Ethnic groups (2023)	Czechs (100%)
Religion	Irreligious (100%)
Demonym(s)	Firburgian
Government	Direct democratic Semi-constitutional monarchy
• Duke	Stefan Kutnix I
• Countess of Malý Kuklík	Celesta Konstancie
Legislature	Ducal Council
Establishment
• Declaration of independence	16 October 2020
• The beginning of the Second Constitution	14 June 2021
• The coronation of Stefan Kutnix I	16 October 2022
Area
• Total	0.5994 km2 (0.2314 sq mi)
• Water (%)	insignificant
Population
• 2023 census	4
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	0 USD
• Per capita	0 USD
Currency	Czech koruna (CZK)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Date format	dd. mm. yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	de facto +420

The Duchy of Firburg (Czech: Firburské vévodství, Firburgian: Firburskij vajval or Fiŕburskij vajval), also known as Firburg (Czech: Firburk, Firburgian: Firburk or Fiŕburk) is a micronation in Central Europe near the town of Kutná Hora in Czechia. The Duchy of Firburg declared its independence from the Czech Republic on 16 October 2020 with the Charter of Independence of the Duchy of Firburg. Under its Second constitution, Firburg is a semi-constitutional monarchy and a democratic state governed by the rule of law with a liberal state system. The head of state is the Duke, who exercises executive power and also legislative power, which he shares with the Ducal Council. The current Duke of Firburg is Stefan Kutnix I.

The Duchy of Firburg is a landlocked country claiming 4 mutually separated territories around the central Bohemian town of Kutná Hora. The duchy has an area of about 0.5678 km². Firburg borders the Czechia along its entire border (6,282 km). The duchy is divided into four regions. The Capital city, or region, is Malý Kuklík. In 2023, there were four citizens, the entire population is of Czech nationality. Firburg is a member of the Union of Micronations of Central Europe, and the Micronational Olympic Federation.

The Duchy of Firburg is one of the most democratic micronations on the Czechoslovak micronational scene.

History

Before independence

The idea for the creation of the Duchy of Firburg was born at the turn of September and October 2020, when its founder and later Duke Stefan Kutnix joined the Czech Microwiki. The original plan was to create a state called Stříbřensko on land near the village of Habrkovice, which is now part of the village of Záboří nad Labem. Eventually, however, Stefan Kutnix decided to relocate Stříbřensko, to the double-peaked Kuklík hill. Gradually the name was also changed to Filsburk, later Firburk. It was also decided that the country would not be a semi-presidential republic, but a semi-constitutional monarchy, specifically a duchy.

Declaration of Independence

The original plan was to declare independence on 30 October 2020, Stefan Kutnix's birthday, but the declaration was finally made on 16 October, when Stefan Kutnix signed the Charter of Independence of the Duchy of Firburg in the evening. At the same time, the Provisional Constitution of the Duchy of Firburg came into force, which established Stefan Kutnix I as Duke, created territorial units called Regions, but also set the date of the first elections for the still non-existent Senate of the Duchy of Firburg for the second Friday and Saturday of November, i.e. 13 and 14 November 2020.

Postponement of elections

On 4 November, the Duke decided to postpone the elections, originally to January, as it turned out that there were not enough citizens in the country to fill the Senate, which was supposed to have five seats, but there were only four citizens. It was decided that if there were no more than six citizens in the country before 4 December 2020, an election would be held in January, but this would reduce the term of the senators to just one month. However, in the end, more than six people in total gained citizenship before December 4, the elections could have been held as early as December 11 and 12, 2020.

In the meantime, however, there was a referendum held in Firburg between 30 November and 1 December. The referendum concerned the possible annexation of a third region, named after the hill at the foot of which it was to be located, namely Kaňk. The vote went off without a hitch and ended with a clear result of 100% in favour of annexation. Kaňk thus became part of Firburk at midnight between 1 and 2 December 2020.

Answer	Votes	%
Yes	7	100
No	0	0,0
Total	7	100
Invalid	0	–
Total submissions	7	–
Voters in the list	7	–
Participation		100

The first election

The first elections for the Senate of the Duchy of Firburg were officially held between 11 and 12 December 2020, but in reality the elections were held until 14 December, as some citizens could vote by absentee ballot with the permission of the Duke. The New Patriotic Party (Novovlastenecká strana, NVS) won the position of President of the Senate as the winner of the election (60.00% of votes), which was given to Joel as the party's election leader. The Liberal right (Liberální pravice, LIBEPRA) (40.00%) won the post of Vice President, which went to one of their members, Federative mapping.

Position	Previous	Elected
President of the Senate	The position was created	Joel (NVS)
Vice president of the Senate	The position was created	Federative mapping (LIBEPRA)

The second election

The second Senate election will take place between 12 and 13 February 2021, this time without an unofficial extension. The New Patriotic Party defended both its victory (57.10%) and the post of President of the Senate in the elections, but the new electoral leader of the New Patriotic Party - Daniel Jindřich Wolfskopf - became the new President. LIBEPRA (42.90%) regained the post of Vice President, which went to the party chairman, Eric Smith.

Position	Previous	Elected
President of the Senate	Joel (NVS)	Daniel J. Wolfskopf (NVS)
Vice president of the Senate	Federative mapping (LIBEPRA)	Eric Smith (LIBEPRA)

Decrease of activity

Between February and April 2021, the Duchy of Firburg was active, not only in the meetings of the Senate, but also in its active participation in international affairs and in further work on the creation of the Firburgian, which subsequently became the second official language of the Duchy. However, the activity gradually declined and completely ceased after the Senate meeting on 10 April 2021. There was a change in the President of the Senate, when Eric Smith replaced Daniel Jindřich Wolfskopf, who had resigned, but even this change did not jump-start Firburg, but rather showed the potential problems for the next elections, which were to be held in May.

Both members of the New Patriotic Party gradually made it clear that they were no longer planning to run in the next elections, mainly due to personal workload, which meant that only LIBEPRA would probably run for the Senate. Stefan Kutnix I therefore began to discuss with the Senate the creation of a new constitution to help activate Firburg.

The new constitution

A new constitution, which would both help to activate Firburk and replace the Provisional Constitution, which was no longer serving its function, began to be created by Stefan Kutnix I, together with Joel and other Senators, in the second half of April 2021. During its creation, it was also agreed that the planned May elections would not take place, as they would unnecessarily complicate the creation of the new constitution. This information was communicated by the Duke to the citizens on May 6, 2021.

The new constitution, at the time already referred to as the Second Constitution, was heavily inspired by the constitution of the Czech Republic. However, it created only a unicameral parliament called the Ducal Council, and instead of the position of the President, the Duke continued to occupy the post of the President, whose powers were strengthened or created a so-called state of emergency, which was to allow the Duke to amend laws for 14 days after the Constitution came into force, for example, so that powers could be transferred from the defunct Senate to the newly created Ducal Council. Another important change was that the Second Constitution revoked the citizenship of all citizens who did not live in the Kutná Hora District, who were popularly called online citizens. In practice, this meant that only people whom the Duke knew personally would remain citizens. This would allow the new council to meet much more frequently than the Senate.

Voting on the new constitution took place continuously in the Senate from 7 to 9 June 2021. The result was the approval of the Second Constitution, which came into force on 14 June 2021.

After the Second Constitution came into force

On June 14, 2021, when the Second Constitution came into force, Duke Stefan Kutnix I signed several decrees, one of which revoked several citizens of their citizenship in order to fulfill the constitution that only allowed citizenship to people living in the Kutná Hora district. Most citizens agreed with this approach, others did not express their opinion. However, this did not please the then Archduke of Egeria, Peter Simon Malček, who decided to send a diplomatic mission to Firburg on 14 June to check the human rights situation in the country. The mission, also due to international pressure on Egeria, ended the following day, 15 June. The mission produced the result that the revocation of citizenship was supposed to violate basic human rights, but the fact that Firburg had no other option was cited as a mitigating circumstance. The mission therefore had no influence on the revocation of citizenship.

Gradually, all the powers of the Senate were transferred to the new Ducal Council, but it was decided to extend the state of emergency until 5 September 2021 at the earliest, as the problem of the Ducal Council being unable to meet during the summer due to time constraints was encountered. In the end, however, the state of emergency lasted until 15 October 2021, as there was a problem directly in the functioning of the Council, so it had to be resolved.

Kybistani-Firburg Crisis

Reform period

During the summer and autumn of 2022 there was an effort to activate the Duchy of Firbury, which at that time was much less active than before. Stefan Kutnix I therefore prepared a package of laws that were passed, symbolically on the two-year anniversary of Firburg, 16 October 2022. These laws included the annexation of the new region of Sukov and the extension of Malý Kuklík to include another part of the forest on the hill of the same name, as well as the area around the Rybníček u Hořan, which became a new national park alongside the Kaňk, but most importantly the coronation of Stefan Kutnix.

Period of neutrality

In January and February an important change in Firburg's foreign policy took place, as the Duke was elected Secretary of UMCE. Even before the election itself, Firburg's policy had already shifted to much greater neutrality. One important step in this regard was the end of active support for the Krlesian military operation in Sendersia on 26 January. As time went on, the statements of the duchy's leaders also moderated until they fell to a minimal level.

Political system

The country is a semi-constitutional monarchy, with power shared mainly by the Ducal Council and the Duke, but also by the local governments.

Legislative power

Legislative power in the country is shared between the Duke and the Ducal Council, but the Duke presides over it. The Duke can propose laws, as can the members of the Ducal Council, of which every citizen of the country is a member, so it currently has three members. At the meeting, the motion is debated and then a vote is taken, in which at least two members of the council must vote in favour of the motion for it to pass. The Duke can use his veto on the motion, if he does not use it, the motion goes to him for signature and once signed, it takes effect.

Executive power

Executive power is in the hands of the Duke, he can temporarily transfer it to someone by decree or perhaps by a decision of the Ducal Council.

Court

In the Duchy of Firbury, the Duke is the only judge, and he can be contacted if someone needs to deal with something in court. The Duke must be impartial and must not be influenced by anyone, if he is not impartial or is influenced, it is a violation of the constitution.

Local Government

The country is divided into 3 regions, Malý Kuklík, Velký Kuklík and Kaňk. The head of the region is the Count, if a region lacks a Count, the Duke temporarily assumes his position unless otherwise determined.

Culture

As there is a forest, orchard, rock, etc. in the territory of the Duchy of Firburg, it is not possible to hold large events here, nor are there buildings in which to request various cultural events, so culture exists only in the form of a language created by the Duke. The language bears the name of Firburgian and is also one of the official languages of the country. Currently, it is still in the process of being created, with each word type having its basic functioning worked out so that the language can already be used in the civil service. Eventually there are plans to make a Firburg version of the Firburg website, to use the language in communication between authorities or to teach it at an online school. But that is still in the future.

Nature and geography

The surface of the land is fairly uniform, with most of Firburg being uneven, as there are two peaks - Malý Kuklik and Velký Kuklik. Malý Kuklík is 359 m above sea level and Velký Kuklík is three metres lower (356 m above sea level). The area of Malý Kuklík and Velký Kuklík is covered with mixed forest, but the area of Kaňk is covered with meadow, limestone rocks and also some coniferous forest.

External links