Land mogul active in the canton of Schwyz The self-proclaimed "King of Switzerland" in a real estate frenzy

30-year-old Jonas Lauwiner has proclaimed himself the "King of Switzerland". He now owns 149 properties across the country - and has now also struck it rich in the canton of Schwyz.

Jonas Lauwiner, who was born in Valais and now lives in the canton of Bern, has acquired a fabulous real estate empire across Switzerland with a simple trick. He can now call 149 properties his own. In Burgdorf BE, the trained automation engineer resides in his own castle.

As befits a true emperor, Lauwiner has now introduced his own currency called "Empire Vellar", he likes to wear a uniform and the hobby ruler has even designed his own flag.

Jonas I has now landed his latest real estate coup in the canton of Schwyz. According to Lauwiner himself, he has recently snapped up 26 plots of land there. The "Bote" reports that the land holdings cover a total of around 19,000 square meters. These include plots in the municipalities of Schwyz, Muotathal, Küssnacht and Unteriberg, as well as numerous plots in Ausserschwyz.

Loophole in the jurisdiction

To expand his empire, Lauwiner makes use of a simple legal trick. He specifically searches for land without an owner. Land without an owner belongs to no one - and there are more of them in Switzerland than you might think. Irene Contratto Saray, head of the notary's office and land registry in Schwyz, explains to the "Boten" newspaper: "In most cases, the original owner has relinquished their ownership rights." These properties are usually considered worthless or are subject to maintenance and security costs.

In principle, any person can acquire such ownerless plots of land (subject to the Federal Act on Rural Land Law and the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Land by Persons from Abroad). A simple registration with the land registry is sufficient to add the land to your own portfolio. The only costs are the official processing fees of a few hundred francs.

Meanwhile, people in Muotathal are rubbing their eyes in amazement at the unexpected land transfer. Nobody there had the idea of claiming the ownerless land for themselves. After all, Lauwiner's land grab was just an unnoticed section of the Mettelbach streambed in Tristel. But the municipality was unable to do anything about the appropriation after the fact, explains head of the building authority Patrick Suter.

Residents concerned about responsibilities

The situation is even more different for residents in Schwyz and Unteriberg. Lauwiner is taking over two local roads there. In Seeweng, he now owns part of Stelzliweg, while in Unteriberg it is Quellenweg in Adelmatt in Studen.

Residents along both paths have reservations about the takeover by a person from outside the canton. In Unteriberg, they actually wanted to take over the spring path themselves with a land cooperative - but Lauwiner beat them to it. "It's an unpleasant situation," explains Roman Kofmehl. He was actually supposed to become president of the land cooperative. Now there is great uncertainty and concern in the district about how to deal with the new road owner in the future.

As the new owner, Lauwiner could even legally prohibit residents from entering the area. "But that is not my intention," Lauwiner tells the "Boten". However, the new road owner is now also responsible for the maintenance and safety of the paths.

And this is precisely what worries those affected. If renovation work is necessary, Lauwiner could - depending on the provisions in the so-called easement agreements - collect money from the adjacent property owners. Roman Kofmehl finds this situation intolerable. Especially as he himself has never heard of the "king". He now wants to hold a meeting with the residents soon to discuss the next steps.