Volksrepublik Lichtenberg-Fennpfuhl

Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl

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The People's Republic of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is a landlocked city-state within the capital city of Deutschland, Berlin. It is inhabited by a little over 73,000 people which all live in the densely-populated urban environment of the city. Even though or maybe exactly because the nation is not internationally recognised it maintains strong economic and diplomatic ties with Deutschland.

1 Geography

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Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is located in the middle of the district Lichtenberg and consists of two localities, Lichtenberg and Fennpfuhl. Its borders are mostly defined by large roads or train tracks. The area is mostly flat with height differences only amounting up to few meters at most. The urban environment is interspersed with public parks, green space and occasional ponds and lakes, most notably the Fennpfuhlpark, characterised by numerous sculptures, in the middle of Fennpfuhl. It borders the localities of Alt-Hohenschönhausen, Weißensee and Prenzlauer Berg (both in Pankow district), Friedrichshain (in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg), Rummelsburg, Friedrichsfelde and Marzahn (in Marzahn-Hellersdorf). Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl covers an area of 8.24 square kilometers.

2 History

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Before the 20th century
The historic village of Lichtenberg, today also called Alt-Lichtenberg, was founded about 1230, due to the German colonization of the territory of Barnim. The settlement around the fieldstone church was first mentioned in a 1288 deed, its estates were acquired by the neighbouring City of Berlin in 1391.
Alt-Lichtenberg suffered severely during the Thirty Years' War and remained a small village at the Berlin gates until in the late 18th century Prussian noblemen like general Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf built their residences here. In 1815 the Lichtenberg estate became a property of the Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg.

20th century
The village came to be a residential area and a suburb of Berlin from the mid 19th century on. A new town hall was erected in 1898 and in 1907 Lichtenberg received town privileges. Originally an independent city, it became part of Berlin in 1920 in the Greater Berlin Act.
During the time of Nazi rule, there has been a small forced labour camp in the Fennpfuhlpark.
In April 1961, the land development of the area, called Lichtenberg (Nord) at that time, was begun, and planning was subdivided into three sections. The area to be built upon covered an area of 175 hectares (430 acres). In the Erich-Kuttner-Straße on the edge of the area (section I), the first Plattenbau, one of the most commonly built types of residence in German democratic republic, was built. The building, which was built as an experimental sample, is under monument protection today. On December 2, 1972, construction of the quarter began, the plan being to develop an area for almost 50,000 inhabitants. Populated since the early 1970s, it was officially completed on May 12, 1986.

21st century
Following the reunification of Deutschland and the end of the German democratic republic, there were many socialist sympathisers in Lichtenberg where there were many former GDR offices situated, including the infamous Stasi. This is also visible thanks to the large number of monuments and street names dedicated to socialists and communists, as well as Lichtenberg being the only electoral district in Deutschland providing a direct mandate for the Leftist party.
In the latter half of the 2010s growing amounts of young people, especially students in higher education, rediscovered the socialist ideology for themselves. Fearing the growing strength of corporations and right-wing parties, students from local schools gathered periodically to protest for social justice, equality, peace and solidarity. The non-violent protests, mostly collective singing of left-wing songs from GDR-times, attracted the attention of elder citizens sympathising with the socialist past, which later joined the protests. The original goal of the protests was not the secession from Deutschland but only a more humane society, further socialising the economic model of Rhine capitalism. However, when a law student, Franz Pontiac Horn, later the first head of state of Lichtenberg-Fennpfuhl, discovered that because of a legal loophole the two localities of Lichtenberg and Fennpfuhl were still a non-annexed part of the former GDR. More or less as an inside joke the student protesters declared the foundation of the People's Republic of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl. Although the nation is not internationally recognised, the inhabitants of the area uphold the declared People's Republic.

3 Population

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Most of the 73.000 inhabitants of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl are ethnic Germans, however, similar to most parts of Berlin, the area is home to people from many different origins. The largest non-native ethnicities are Russian, people from former Soviet Socialist Republics and Vietnamese, who migrated as workers to Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl during GDR times. Further people came from Poland and Turkey. The median age is kept balanced between large numbers of senior citizens and plenty of young families living in the urban residential areas.

4 Politics

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The politics in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl are dictated by a democratic semi-socialist government that combines Rhine capitalism with a multitude of leftist and socialist policies to both improve the capitalistic system and to prevent classical mistakes of socialist nations from the past.
The General Assembly of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is elected by the people in free and secret elections every four years. Although the nation is divided into two localities, Lichtenberg and Fennpfuhl, the government is unitary and situated in Lichtenberg, which also deals with the issues of Fennpfuhl.

4.1 Political Parties

There are five parties currently in the parliament. The largest of them is the Leftist party, the remnants of the former leading party of the GDR, the SED (Socialist Unity Party). Nowhere else in Deutschland is the Leftist party stronger than in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl. The Leftists hold eighteen out of the fifty-five seats in the local parliament. The second-strongest party is the centre-left SPD, the Social-Democratic Party of Deutschland, a classical worker's party facing declining popularity in favour of far-right and far-left parties. The CDU, the Christian Democratic Union faces the same problem but worse, as it is down to seven seats in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl, even though it is currently the strongest and governing party in Deutschland. The Green party is the weakest with five seats, however, its political influence is strong thanks to frequent cooperation with the Leftists. The fifth party in the parliament is the Alternative for Deutschland, an ultra-conservative, far-right party, gaining votes from people disappointed in the government, especially the governing coalition of CDU and SPD.
Since the declaration of the People's Republic, the popularity of the Leftists and Greens has risen thanks to many protesters engaging in those parties. Even though Lichtenberg had a problem with national socialists in the past, which is one of the reasons for the AfD's strength, their numbers are declining thanks to the self-confident leftist government.

4.2 Relations with Deutschland

As no other internationally recognised nation accepts Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl as a sovereign state, Deutschland still views the people living in Lichtenberg and Fennpfuhl as its own citizens. They still pay taxes, abide by German law, can move freely across the borders and enjoy the four freedoms. The people in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl solidarize themselves with the Germans, although they view them as slightly less pro-social as themselves.

5 Economy

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Most industrial products of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl were not profitable on the world market which lead to the closure of many companies in the manufacturing sector. Nevertheless, many small and medium-sized companies are still running at a profit as a part of the Mittelstand, the economic basis for the strength of Deutschland's economy. There are several shopping malls in the area. A large furniture producer from Sweden runs a chain store in Lichtenberg and the Vietnamese community runs a large shopping mall for small businesses.

5.1 Education

Never before did the youth of Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl have access to such a wide spectrum of education as it has now. Most children from all layers of society end up pursuing a further academic path and going to University in Berlin. As in the other parts of Deutschland, after primary school students can choose between different educational paths based on the academic or manual abilities. However, his increasing amount of higher educated young people leads to a lack of specialised tradespeople.

5.2 Infrastructure

Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is interspersed with large public roads, train and tram networks as well as extensive pathways and bike lanes. Thanks to the highly developed infrastructure the area is tightly interconnected. Schools, clinics and other necessary services are easily available and often free of charge. Leftist politicians are working on making the means of public transportation free for every citizen.

6 Culture

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Although the culture is mostly indistinguishable from the rest of Deutschland, Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is distinctively a part of Berlin and its culture, which is heavily influenced by migrants from all over the world. Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is an open-minded and multicultural hub for the youth of the increasingly globalised world, although the neighbouring district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is better-known for its vibrant nightlife. The best-integrated foreign group are the Vietnamese who have assimilated into the culture perfectly by being more hard-working than the Germans themselves.

6.1 Language

Most people in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl speak either high German or the Berlin dialect. The most common minority languages are Russian and Vietnamese, as well as Polish and Turkish. Almost every young person speaks fluent English thanks to both the emphasis on foreign languages in local schools, as well as the dominance of the English language online and in modern media in general.

6.2 Architecture

Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl is known for its omnipresent, GDR-style Plattenbauten, a typical socialist building method for accommodating large numbers of people in high-rise apartment buildings at a cheap cost. Those buildings were not very attractive in the past, now, however, after many of them have been renovated, the friendly and green residential areas are highly sought after by young families as well as foreigners as the population continues to grow. In some areas residential and administrative buildings from before the world wars have been preserved and are still in use.

6.3 Religion

There are several Christian churches in Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl with active communities, although their numbers have been dwindling. Furthermore, large parts of the population are Muslim and many shrines with offerings can be found in Vietnamese shops and businesses. A growing share of the population identify as agnostic or atheistic and others as not belonging to any major religious community.

7 Sources

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Lichtenbgerg locality on Wikipedia (German)
Lichtenbgerg locality on Wikipedia (English)
Fennpfuhl locality on Wikipedia (German)
Fennpfuhl locality on Wikipedia (English)
[1] Map composed from works by Wikimedia Commons user TUBS.

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Puppet nations of the Sunset sea islands:

• Sklodowska

• Saarabien

• Neo-dymia

• Lichtenberg-fennpfuhl

• The bottleneck

• The saar commune

Feel free to check their factbooks out, I've put just as much effort into them. If you have any comments or feedback, I'd be happy to hear it via telegram!