Royal Republic of Ladonia

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Royal Republic of Ladonia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Suum Cuique (Latin: To each his own)
Anthem: Two unnamed anthems
Ladonia in Sweden
Capital and largest city	Wotan City
Official languages	Phrased Latin English Swedish German French Spanish Portuguese Italian
Demonym(s)	Ladonian
Government	Remony constitutional
• Queen	Carolyn av Ladonien
• Prime Minister	Jorgen Stenburg
Legislature	Cabinet of Ministers
Establishment	2 June 1996
Population
• (26/6/2022 estimate) census	27,364
Currency	Örtug
Time zone	(LST) +0.57
Website Government website Newspaper

The Royal Republic of Ladonia is a micronation founded on 2 June 1996.

History

In 1980, artist Lars Vilks began construction of two sculptures, Nimis (Latin for "too much", a structure made of 75 tonnes of driftwood) and Arx (Latin for "fortress", a structure made of stone), in the Kullaberg nature reserve in north-west Skåne, Sweden. The location of the sculptures is difficult to reach, and as a consequence they were not discovered for two years, at which point the local council declared the sculptures to be buildings, the construction of which was forbidden on the nature reserve, and demanded that they should be dismantled and removed. Additionally, Vilks was criminally charged with obstruction of a public way. Vilks denied both the civil charge of building an unpermitted "house" and the criminal charge of obstruction for nearly ten years in the Swedish courts before both cases were finally decided. The court exonerated Vilks of the criminal charge of obstructing a public way, but ruled against Vilks in the civil matter regarding the unpermitted construction of Nimis. Vilks was fined 1000 SEK (roughly equal to $100 USD) and an order was issued to tear down Nimis.

Vilks appealed the decision repeatedly, and finally the Swedish equivalent of the Supreme Court ruled in the matter. The fine stood, but Nimis was spared. While the court battles were being fought, Nimis had been sold multiple times (once in 1984) and then to the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude after the death of Joseph Beuys. The sale of Nimis was done to provide additional protection from demolition in the event that the courts ruled the removal order could be enforced.

Shortly after the final court decision that prevented the removal of Nimis, Vilks observed that the Swedish government had no power to enforce their laws on Nimis or the land that Nimis occupied, which he determined meant that the land was independent and sovereign. Therefore, Vilks and a small handful of artists and attorneys supportive of his cause, declared the land surrounding Nimis a new, sovereign state: Ladonia.

In 1999, another sculpture, Omphalos (named after Omphalos, a small sculpture in the temple at Delphi, "marking the centre of the world"), was created. It was made of stone and concrete, 1.61 metres high and weighing a tonne. The Gyllenstiernska Krapperup Foundation, formed to promote art and culture, accused Vilks of building this sculpture and complained to the police, and in August 1999 the district court ordered its removal. The Foundation had also again demanded the removal of "Nimis" and the stone castle "Arx", but the district courts denied those removal requests. The Foundation appealed this decision regarding Nimis and Arx to the Supreme Court, but the supreme court upheld the lower court's ruling.

The removal of Omphalos was itself controversial. Vilks was ordered to find an acceptable way to remove the sculpture. He proposed blowing it up on 10 December 2001, Nobel Day and the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and applied to the county council for permission to do so. The county council made a decision on 7 December, but kept it secret until 10 December. By that time, another artist, Ernst Billgren, had bought Omphalos from Vilks, and had requested that it not be damaged. In the early hours of 9 December, a crane boat was sent (by DYKMA, under contract from the Enforcement Administration) to the site and removed the sculpture (at a cost of SEK 92,500, billed to Vilks). Despite the new owner's request, the sculpture was damaged by handling. In response to this, the Enforcement Administration was satirically declared to be "Performance Artist of the Year" in 2002.

Afterwards, Vilks applied to the county council again, this time for permission to erect a memorial in the place that Omphalos had stood. Permission was granted by the council to erect a monument no greater than 8 centimetres high. This was duly done, and the monument was inaugurated on 27 February 2002.

Government and politics

Queen Carolyn of Ladonia immediately after her coronation. 19 September 2011

The government of Ladonia is led by Carolyn I, Queen of Ladonia. Vilks, who had been the State Secretary from 1997 until his death in October 2021, performed or supervised many of the day-to-day operations of the microstate, including processing new citizenship applications and posting photos and news items to the Ladonian online "newspaper". After his death, the Queen's Government was formed to handle the tasks previously performed by Vilks. The Queen's Government is considered the executive branch of the government structure and is comprised of the Queen, the Prime Minister, and the heads of the five State Ministries (Art and Culture, Digital Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Home). The legislative branch of the government is the Cabinet Ministers, and they participate in debates and vote on proposals via the Internet. Some ministries are mundane, but many Ladonian ministries have artistic connotations and whimsical names.

Demographics

When it was created, Ladonia had no population. As of 30 April 2022, the official Facebook page for the Royal Republic of Ladonia announced the additional of the 27,000th non-resident citizen. None of the citizens reside within Ladonia's borders, although there has been at least one resident citizen in the past.

Nimis

Nimis is a series of wooden sculptures situated along the coast in the Kullaberg Nature Reserve, Höganäs Municipality, in the northern part of Skåne County, Sweden. They are a massive, wooden labyrinthine structure connected by several wooden towers, and are said to be mostly constructed from driftwood.

They were begun by the artist Lars Vilks in 1980 and have been the subject of a long-running legal dispute between the Swedish authorities and the artist. As no permission was given to build on the site within the nature reserve, the County Administrative Board in Skåne has sought to have Nimis demolished, despite the fact that it has become a popular tourist attraction.

As Nimis's existence is not sanctioned by Sweden, it is difficult to find - there are no official sign posts in Sweden, nor is it marked on maps. It lies a few kilometres northwest of the town of Arild and somewhat farther from the town of Mölle, and can only be reached on foot following a well-worn path with yellow Ns painted on trees and fences. The path begins as an easy stroll past Himmelstorp, a well-preserved eighteenth-century farmstead, but quickly becomes a steep and rocky climb down to the coast.

Holidays

Holiday	Date	Meaning
Birth of Arx	January 3	Commemorates the beginning of construction of the book of stone in 1991
Day of the Sacred Insult	January 23	(Ministry of Offense)
Burning Day	January 28	(the first great fire in Nimis, 1985)
Greatest Depths of Winter	January 28-February 3	Ladonians honor the 7 days of deepest winter, culminating on 31 January as the ultimate depth of winter
National Day of the Great Fire	February 3	Commemorates the second great fire in Nimis in 1996
High Voltage Day	February 8	A honoring and respecting the power of electricity
Day of Throwing Away Keys	February 13	The day when a general and fruitful disorder is to rule Ladonians. (State Office of Nomads)
Day of the County Administrative Board	February 19	The County Administrative Board filed the first complaint against Nimis on this day in 1982 – it is the day to have a full understanding of all the good that can be brought from the force of an angry authority
Day of Procrastination	February 29	Holiday sponsored/proposed by Chris Mansell
Birthday of Ministry of ALL WINDS	March 6	The Day of ALL WINDS all day always.
Day of Captain Hillman (Day of Fictitious Characters)	March 21	(Custodian Office)
We Love PerV Day	March 30	(Only celebrated when it falls on a Tuesday)
The Stormy Day	April 11	The Day when the Winds worked hard to release minds. The Tower of Winds was suffering and badly hit by the ground. The Day of Brainstorm and Free Minds. (Ministry of All Winds)
Day of the Indian	April 19
Partnership for Pilsner	April 19
Buying Day	April 25	Remembers the day Joseph Beuys (1984) and Christo (1986) bought Nimis. (This is the day when big purchases should be made – or to meditate the idea of buying)
The Walter Day of Anthems	May 12	Celebrates our Minister and Composer Walter Ehresman and all of the Ladonian National Anthems
Waaaaalll Day	May 22	On this day, we celebrate the eonatic spirit of existential possibilities
Day of History and Museum	May 27	The day Count Torby opened the Ladonian Museum of History. It is a day to ask questions on the nature of history.
Day of the Lords	May 31	On this day, we humbly contemplate the lordship.
Day of the Brain Ministry	Floating	First full moon of June
Independence Day	June 2	Ladonia became independent on this day in 1996, National Holiday
Queen's Birthday	June 3	The birthday of Queen Carolyn, National Holiday
Boiling Day	June 5	The day on which the first Ladonian flag was created by boiling a Swedish flag until the colors fused together to make everything green.
Founder's Day (Vilk's Birthday)	June 20	Honoring the birthday of the founder of Ladonia and creator of Nimis and Arx, Lars Vilks (20 June 1946)
Day of Full Madness and Insomnia	June 21	Usually the longest day of the year. Celebrate with parties and no sleep.
Jazz and Music Day	Floating	Last Sunday in July
International Day of Buying Toilet Paper as Art	July 3
Naked Day	July 4	Ladonians go naked, symbolic meaning of being the being. (State Office of Nomads)
The Day of Artful Jumps	July 18	Celebrate by jumping artfully (Ministry of Art and Jump)
Birth of Nimis	July 31	Commemorates the beginning of construction of Nimis in 1980
Day of Coup d'Etat	August 8	The great day of changed created by Sven-Erik Olsson
Day of King Göran the Miserly	August 10	On this day eating and drinking excessively is the thing, but also the understanding of the excessive.
San Lorenzo’s Day	August 10	Marks the beginning of late summer in Ladonia
Duct Tape Day	August 12	A day to honor the multitude of uses for duct tape.
The Darkest Day	August 28	(Ministry of the Dark Side)
The Day of Respect	August 31	(Ministry of All Winds asks everyone to pay respect to the free eonatic mind)
Day of Disrespect	September 1	We will go astray if we forget balance. Both Ying and Yang are needed for higher harmony. (Ministry of Sophistry)
Day of Beer Drinking	September 23
Day of the failed coup d’etat	September 23
Birthday of former Queen Ywonne I Jarl	September 23
Day of Uriel	September 26	(Ministry of Guardian Angels)
Day of Outstanding Ministers	October 10
Ambassadors’ Day	October 11	A day to honor all of the Ladonian Ambassadors around the World (Count Andras)
Hartmanburg Days	October 28–31	Multi-day celebration that remembers Prince Hartmann's contributions to Ladonia and the sciences.
Doom Day	November 3	Remembers the day the Supreme Court sentenced Nimis to destruction in 1986. Sentence has yet to be carried out.
Camus Day	November 7	Remembering French philosopher Albert Camus, the father of absurdism and the youngest Nobel Prize winner, who was born this day in 1913.
The Tortoise Harriet’s Day	November 15	Ladonians go into semi-hibernation for the winter
St. Anders of the Holy Computer Day	November 30	Meditate on the value and contributions that computers and the Internet have made to our lives.
Day of Half Madness and Roaring with Wolves	December 21	Usually the shortest day of the year. Honor the darkness by roaring with the wolves.
First Half Day of Misunderstanding	December 24	Begins at noon (half day)
Second Half Day of Misunderstanding	December 25	Ends at noon (half day)
Stealing Day	December 26	On this day, Ladonians steal. (State Office of Nomads)
Day of Throwing Things at Each Other	December 27	Celebrate this day by throwing something at someone. Avoid throwing sharp things or very hard things, as this could cause injury. We suggest empty beer cans.