'It's a unique community': Micronation of Talossa continues to exist decades after its Milwaukee founding

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- If you grew up in Milwaukee, chances are you've heard of 'The Kingdom of Talossa.' There's a number of self-proclaimed micronations in the United States, but one of the first modern ones was born in Milwaukee, more than four decades ago.

"We don't seek, you know, any kind of major political change; I don't want to describe it as a hobby because I think people, people might think that's a bit dismissive," explained Ben Herrenbruck. "I think people are really passionate about it, so, maybe more than a hobby."

Herrenbruck is an American citizen who physically lives in Milwaukee and is about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In September 2023 however, he also became a 'Talossan citizen' and to some, he goes by the name 'Bentxami Puntmasleu.'

"The metropolitan Talossa exists in the East Side of Milwaukee...it is made up of seven provinces and there's also a province, an external province, Cézembre, off the coast of France," he added.

The imaginary Kingdom of Talossa is one of the earliest micronations in the country--A self-proclaimed sovereign state that is not legally recognized.

It was founded in Milwaukee on Dec. 26, 1979 by then- 14-year-old Robert Ben Madison in his own second-floor bedroom.

"It originally consisted of his room, the room was divided into provinces, the original province of Talossa was called 'Vuode,' which means bed in the Finnish language," Herrenbruck said.

According to Madison's map, the Kingdom's so-called physical borders stretch from Milwaukee's upper east side to the downtown area.

"It's a unique community... it's a community that, you know, people, you know, feel like they belong to and are very proud and happy to belong to," he told CBS 58 Sunday Morning.

Its national cuisine is Taco Bell and national songs include hits by Abba and Fleetwood Mac.

And like any civilization, it has its own flag, its made up language with a vocabulary of 150,000 words, and its own government.

"It's bicameral two houses, there is an upper house composed of representatives from each province and a lower house, which is just based on population and it's voted on by party list," he added.

Herrenbruck says there's no clear method of succession to be king but once or twice a year there are elections in the legislature.

"There's different ideas about how Talossa is federalized and how this federalism should be structured or if it should just be a unitary state," he said.

It became a real community in Milwaukee and members gathered for annual 'TalossaFests.'

"It's something I'd like to do as, in the Bureau of Home Affairs, I'd like to try to organize a TalossaFest, we haven't had one in a while," Herrenbruck said.

In the 1990s it expanded online to make citizenship available to foreigners with no connection to Milwaukee.

"People from all over the world...Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Germany," he explained.

To date, Herrenbruck said there's a population of about 150 people.

But why would someone want to be part of a fictitious world?

"I think the reason that it kind of grew and expanded is because it was just something people wanted to be a part of, they wanted to kind of help build something and it kind of not exceptionally, politically serious but still meaningful," he said.

So meaningful that some Talossans actually rebelled. They viewed the founder and king as tyrannical and by the early 2000s, Madison abdicated his throne.

"There is a republican movement within Talossa who would like to see Talossa become a Republic and that is, that is one of the issues of moreless friendly but sometimes friendly but still passionate areas of contention," he said.

Its escapism element creates a sense of community that Herrenbruck says isn't just fun, for many, it's fulfilling.

"We're all very in-tune with the reality of the situation, I'll make that clear....we know that it doesn't have any real political or geopolitical significance," Herrenbruck said. "Talossa was interesting to me because I really love Milwaukee and Wisconsin in general, so the fact that there was a, you know, a very old well-established micronation right here in my backyard was very fascinating to me."