Tussen

Tussen
Municipality
Flag Seal
Mottoes:  Plus Mare Beyond the sea
Country	Ebenthal
Region	Ebenthaler Riviera
Settled	1981
Inc. Ebenthal	30 December 2019
Foundation	1 February 2024
Government
• Type	Executive-led devolved administration
• Chief Executive	Felipe Saint
Area
• Total	0.5 km2 (0.2 sq mi)
Elevation	−2 m (−7 ft)
Population  (2024)
• Total	5 (permanent)
• Rank	9th
Demonym	Tussenian
Time zone	UTC−3
Postal Code (CEP)	28990-000 to 28999-999
Area code	+55 22
HDI (2024)	0.823 very high (TBD)

Tussen, officially (Portuguese: Município de Tussen, is one of the eight municipalities of Ebenthal. Formed by two enclaves within the Brazilian municipalities of Saquarema and Araruama each, Tussen is the only coastal Ebenthaler municipality, bordering the Atlantic Ocean through Wasserteich Lagoon as well as Araruama Lagoon. The municipality has 0.5 km² (01 sq mi) and 5 inhabitants, making it the 8th largest and 9th most populous of Ebenthal's administrative divisions. Tussen is administered through an assembly-independent executive-led devolved government led by a Chief Executive appointed by the King of Ebenthal. The municipality is further represented by one parliamentarian in the national House of Councillors.

Prior to the establishment of Tussen as a municipal corporation, its territory had been inhabited by Tupi native tribes for centuries. In 1594 Portuguese settlers enslaved and expelled the tribes and established a sesmaria which became the freguesia (parish) of Saquarema, initially as part of the larger region of Araruama, within the colonial State of Brazil. Following Brazilian independence, Saquarema was elevated to a municipality in 1841 and the town became a tourist destination for Rio de Janeiro inhabitants who turned it into a sort of spa town. In 1981 Carlos Santos bought a summer house in Saquarema, which was inherited by his son, Reinaldo Santos, King Arthur II's stepfather. Upon ascending to the Ebenthaler throne, Arthur had his stepfather's property annexed into Ebenthal as the principality and later municipality of Amsee. From the beggining, Amsee lacked internal political activity, although it contributed to the national politics through its representatives in the parliament. In 2022 the Amsean monarchy was abolished along with the country's other subnational monarchies, paving the ground for the Redivision Act, enacted in 2024, which restructured Ebenthal's model of administrative divisions. That same year a new property acquired in the Brazilian municipality of Araruama was merged into Amsee, creating the new municipality of Tussen.

The Tussenian territory consists of two estates: one large house with a small two-store building, including a vast garden with view to the Wasserteich Lagoon, and a large two-store house with a vast field, bordering the woods, reaching the Araruama Lagoon. Despite its small size, Tussen is one of Ebenthal's most popular touristic destinations, attracint people from brom Ebenthal, specially from Setzenbrand, Lehen and Erzfelsen, and Brazil, due to its tropical climate and its lagoons. As a direct consequence, Tussen's economy is largely dependent on tourism.

Etimology

The name "Tussen" literally means "between" in Dutch. It derives from the combination of the Dutch words tussen plus the suffix zeen, coming from "sea", and means "between seas", representing the location of Tussen between the Atlantic Ocean and the Wasserteich Lagoon. Although the local population does not speak Dutch, nor is this an official language of Ebenthal, the origin of the name of the Dutch municipality is due to a return to the geographical and cultural roots of the House of Bruyn in the Netherlands.