{"id":62905,"date":"2026-05-10T08:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T08:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/62905\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T08:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T08:11:11","slug":"a-full-time-job-how-a-self-proclaimed-swiss-kings-empire-is-riling-local-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/62905\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A full-time job’: How a self-proclaimed swiss king’s ’empire’ is riling local authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

The self-proclaimed king of Switzerland<\/a> is aware that not everyone likes what he is doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of king is very special in Switzerland because it\u2019s not really accepted. It’s very controversial,\u201d says Jonas Lauwiner, 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t have too many haters,\u201d he adds. \u201cNobody has stopped me, that’s for sure, because it’s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

King Jonas I, as he calls himself, declared himself Switzerland\u2019s \u201csymbolic\u201d monarch with a 2019 coronation in Bern\u2019s Nydegg Church that was attended by several members of the clergy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lauwiner,\u00a0a resident of the city of Burgdorf in Bern who also works full-time at a pharmaceutical company, was dressed in full royal regalia, including a bejewelled 18-carat-gold crown.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has acquired many of the attributes of a modern monarch: For media<\/a> interviews he wears gilded military<\/a> dress, he has an official website<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0an \u201cimperial bank\u201d with a \u201chalf-sovereign coin\u201d, and he is often accompanied by a 10-person-strong contingent \u201cfor protection\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A screen shot taken from a video of a coronation Lauwiner held in Bern in 2019. \u00a9 Coronation of Kings and Queens, YouTube <\/p>\n

A video on his website shows his legionnaires running training operations with a collection of military hardware near a large countryside residence: the royal \u201cpalace\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Switzerland has little historical tradition of a monarchy<\/a> and there is no royal family in its constitution<\/a>. \u201cBut I\u2019m not a constitutional monarch,\u201d says Lauwiner. \u201cI’m a symbolic monarch. There is a king in Switzerland, and it’s me, King Jonas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many have dismissed Lauwiner as either an eccentric or a prankster, but if declaring himself king is a joke, it\u2019s one that he takes seriously \u2013 especially when it comes to his \u201cland empire\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the past decade the Swiss and Moroccan citizen has taken advantage of a loophole in Swiss law<\/a> that states if a piece of land has no owner, anyone can claim it\u00a0\u2013 for free.<\/p>\n

He now owns around 150 such plots across Switzerland, including the land that contains his palace.<\/p>\n

\u2018Land empire\u2019 <\/p>\n

Lauwiner first became a landowner on his 20th birthday, when his father gifted him a small agricultural plot bought cheaply years before. \u201cIt was the biggest day for me. Since I was eight years old, I always wanted my own land. My dream finally was fulfilled,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I wanted to expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

As luck would have it, the plot next door had no listed owner meaning, under Article 658 of the Swiss Civil Code, Lauwiner could legally claim it at the land registry, paying a few hundred francs in processing fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I thought, this cannot be the only one: it would be too lucky if I just discovered the only plot in Switzerland. So, I started a big search, and I discovered another one, and another one, and another one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Lauwiner has now claimed more than 117,000 square metres of previously ownerless Swiss territory. While a miniscule portion of Switzerland\u2019s overall surface area, his property does include \u201cstrategic locations\u201d, including 83 roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 5,000 people per day drive over my roads to their homes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This is the source of many of Lauwiner\u2019s ongoing disputes with the Swiss authorities.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In a patriotic social media post Lauwiner said he was “unbelievably grateful” for his “beautiful homeland”. \u00a9 jonas_lauwiner via Instagram <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the small village of Geuensee, local authorities want to reclaim a street that Lauwiner legally acquired, for which he has suggested they either pay 150,000 francs (\u20ac164,000) or rename it \u201cChemin Lauwiner\u201d (Lauwiner Street).<\/p>\n

The authorities refused his offer, and local lawyer Loris Fabrizio Mainardi filed a criminal complaint claiming \u201cabusive exploitation for profit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Lauwiner\u2019s operetta-style drama doesn\u2019t interest me as such. What drives me crazy is that he\u2019s trying to pressure people who are in a vulnerable situation by imposing his own price demands on them,\u201d Mainardi told local news channel<\/a> RTS.<\/p>\n

Others have been riled by the \u201cmaintenance costs\u201d Lauwiner charges for the use of some roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is asking for money for something that doesn\u2019t require a significant investment,\u201d local MP Josef Schuler told RTS<\/a> from the Lucerne village of Hochdorf, where Lauwiner owns another road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s kind of playing with us a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A full-time job\u2019 <\/p>\n

Lauwiner argues maintenance costs are a necessary, if not profitable, part of his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that I charge is a fee for maintenance, I don’t make profit with these roads,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes I sell a road, and that’s how I make profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

More income is generated from granting building permissions on his land and selling energy companies the right to install infrastructure such as pipes and cables.<\/p>\n

Managing this \u201cis a full-time job\u201d, he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to maintain 149 plots of land\u201d.<\/p>\n

Multiple Swiss cantons now intend to modify their laws to give local municipalities first refusal<\/a> on unclaimed land and prevent other individuals following in Lauwiner\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n

But, he says, this comes too late: ownerless properties were rare in the first place, and he has already claimed nearly all the plots that had any value. \u201cThere’s only a few left, but they\u2019re not worth the bother. You cannot do anything with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes the authorities are reacting because it rankles that he has completed his \u201ccampaign\u201d working inside the law \u2013 a permitted land grab that was there for the taking. \u201cThat’s why it’s so funny. They are just jealous that they did not have the idea,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Today, rather than an acquisition campaign, Lauwiner runs something more like a land management company, developing what he owns to make money and selling the parts that he doesn\u2019t need.<\/p>\n

It sounds rather more mundane than the high-profile diplomacy<\/a> of a typical monarch, but he denies being power-hungry or desiring to expand his \u201cempire\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have energy for it. In the end, I really want to be at peace, on a beach somewhere, enjoying my life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Even so, retirement from public life is not on his immediate agenda.<\/p>\n

\"Lauwiner<\/p>\n

Lauwiner ran in Bern’s canton elections in March 2026. This campaign video shows him in royal garb and a snorkel standing in a stream. \u00a9 jonas_lauwiner via Instagram <\/p>\n

He won a seat on Burgdorf\u2019s city council in 2024, getting nearly 700 votes<\/a> as an independent candidate under the name \u201cKing Jonas Lauwiner\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now he is keen to run for higher office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is it’s very hard to get into as a single individual and I cannot take my troops into politics. But it\u2019s something I really want to do. I’m trying for national council. I’m trying for the State Council. I\u2019ll try for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The self-proclaimed king of Switzerland is aware that not everyone likes what he is doing. \u201cThe role of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[197,9315,67,34509,12145,41,17],"class_list":["post-62905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-europe","tag-features","tag-law","tag-monarchy","tag-royalty","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116549273766248026","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}