Lex Anteinternet: The Freistaat Flaschenhals

Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Freistaat Flaschenhals

Currency of the Bottleneck Free State.

The Freistaat Flaschenhals, or the Bottleneck Free State, came into existence on this date in 1919 on territory that was within the German borders but outside of the jurisdiction of the Weimar Republic or any of the occupying Allied forces.

The unofficial German microstate fit between the French and American bridgeheads and formed due to the necessity of their being some government in the region that was home to 17,000 Germans. Due to economic and travel restrictions, it was cut off economically from Germany as well and all goods had to be smuggled into it.

Given the absolutely chaotic nature of post war Germany, the microstate, which would normally have never have planned for any sort of real status, aspired to one and planned on having relations with "foreign" powers including Germany, thus preserving its national status. It's status as an independant entity came to an end with the French occupation of the Ruhr on February 23, 1923.

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Lex Anteinternet?

This blog has been around since 2009. In the very first post, we asked the question: "What the heck is this blog about?"

Our answer to the question was: "The intent of this blog is to try to explore and learn a few things about the practice of law prior to the current era. That is, prior to the internet, prior to easy roads, and the like. How did it work, how regional was it, how did lawyers perceive their roles, and how were they perceived?"

We also noted: "Part of the reason for this, quite frankly, has something to do with minor research for a very slow moving book."

All of this is still true, but the focus of the blog has changed somewhat. It now focuses on the era from 1890 to 1920 in general, rather than on the law and lawyers specifically, although that may be far from obvious. It's also become the location where we comment on anything we feel moved to comment on.

We hope you'll feel moved to comment as well. While we moderate every comment, so as to weed out Spam, we greatly appreciate the comments where they are offered, and hope to see more.

Thank you for stopping in!