Zwölflinden

Zwölflinden
Municipality
Flag Seal
Mottoes:  Virtus et fiducia Courage and Confidence
Country	Ebenthal
Region	Mid South
Settled	1966
Inc. Ebenthal	2 July 2024
Government
• Type	Executive-led devolved administration
• Chief Executive	Monica van der Bruyn
Area
• Total	0.08 km2 (0.03 sq mi)
Population  (2024)
• Total	3
• Rank	11th
Demonym	Zwölflinder
Time zone	UTC−3
Postal Code (CEP)	95680-000
Area code	+55 55
HDI (2024)	0.939 very high

Zwölflinden, officilly Municipality of Zwölflinden (Portuguese: Município de Zwölflinden) is one of the ten Municipality of Ebenthal. With only 0.08 km² (0.03 sq mi), it is the smallest administrative division of Ebenthal and the second least-populated, with 3 inhabitants, ahead of the equally populated Rotenberg and Bhering. Located in the mid-south region of the country, Zwölflinden is an enclave in the Gaucho Highlands, entirelly surrounded by the Brazilian municipality of Canela. The municipality elects one member for the House of Councillors. Its administration falls to a assembly-independent executive-led devolved government led by a Chief Executive appointed by the King of Ebenthal.

The Zwölflinden region was inhabited for millennia by natives of the Kaingang ethnic group. Between the 15th and 18th centuries the region, although still untouched by Europeans, was claimed by Portugal, as part of its colonial State of Brazil, and by Spain, as part successively of the viceroyalties of Peru and Río de la Plata. However, in the 18th century and more forcefully in the early 19th century, the local governments of the colonial and later the independent Empire of Brazil employed burghers to expel the natives in order to prepare the region for colonization, mainly by German, Italian and Azorean immigrants. The region was soon incorporated into the municipality of Taquara, and its first urban nucleus, formed in 1903, became the municipality of Canela in 1944. The new city quickly developed through agriculture and tourism, becoming a resort and a model city for Brazil. In 1966 Maria Isabel van der Bruyn, married to Henrique Bhering, from Rio Grande do Sul, moved to Canela with her daughters. Fifty-eight years later, in 2024, the Bruyn-Bhering estate in Canela was annexed to Ebenthal under the name Zwölflinden through a sovereignty cession contract between Monica van der Bruyn, daughter of Maria Isabel, and her cousin Arthur II of Ebenthal.

As the smallest municipality in Ebenthal, Zwölflinden is extremely lacking in infrastructure and consists of only one property with a small paved road leading to the municipality and the neighboring country. Zwölflinden's economy relies exclusively on the service sector.