Electorate of Zichenau Gets National Flag

Our contentious neighbor to the south, The Electorate of Zichenau, has unveiled its new national colors, which, observers report, fly today from virtually every flagpole and balcony in the Zichenauen capital, the lovely Rococo city of Hissig. Some suggest that the new colors are a prelude to an invasion of our own Grand Duchy of Stollen.

Indeed, our small expeditionary force, stationed along the north bank of the Lesser Zwischen River for the last few months, has issued reports, detailing the activities of white-coated Zichenauers on the southern side. A few low ranking officers, in command of detachments at certain key bridges have even noted tentative fraternization between their men and those of Zichenau during the evening hours. Tobacco, beer, and wine have been exchanged along with the occasional small talk and a joke or two, and this despite a marked difference in the two dialects of German spoken by the respective troops.

In the meantime, Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II has been busily planning Stollenian political and military strategy with his ministers and generals for some weeks now. We reported previously that he seems to have abandoned his beloved lobster costume with two left-handed claws for a more conventional general’s uniform, consisting of a dark blue coat with white breeches and smallclothes, much like that worn by brother officers over the frontier in neighboring Prussia and across much of “Germany”.

Contrary to popular belief, several Stollenian generals report that our Grand Duke is an astute tactician with a reasonably thorough understanding of military practices. He is not, it would appear, the powder-headed fool that many would believe based on his behavior of the last several months. Given the continued developments across the Zwischen in the Electorate of Zichenau, Irwin-Amadeus II could possibly have the chance to prove his mettle on the field of Mars before long.

-- Katrina-Bettina von Heffelfinger, Die Krankenstadt Tageblat