Neu Maessen

Neu Maessen is the largest city in Austro-Caldera by both area and population. With over 2.8 million inhabitants, the grand majority of residents in the Southeastern Province live in Neu Maessen, with less than a million living in Little Caldera and the rest of the province.

It is also the cultural center of Austro-Caldera, with Volin and Gothic influence intertwined and displayed in various works of art.

Mythical Maessen
Neu Maessen is named after an ancient tale about the city of Maessen, belonging to a land that's distant from but related to Hendalarsk. It's said that Maessen was a fantastical city where the most powerful rulers in the world would gather to meet and discuss the future of the world. It's also said that everyone in Maessen spoke a completely pure form of Gothic, and wore gilded suits. Neu Maessen literally means "New Maessen", and was named after mythical Maessen by Joseph Seuber with the intent of Neu Maessen to become the capital of his new Gothic country, similar to the one Maessen was in.

Pre-Gothic Neu Maessen
Prior to mass Gothic settlement in 1585, Neu Maessen was an Indigeno-Calderan town called "Blue Water" with a population of roughly 42,000. Blue Water was a fishing town with several buildings dedicated to gods, but was not nearly as popular as Neu Maessen is today. Proportionately, more Volins live in Neu Maessen today than they lived in Blue Water.

Capital of Austro-Caldera
Neu Maessen was legally the capital of Austro-Caldera from its founding in 1585 until 1607, however, it remained the de facto capital of Austro-Caldera until 1619.

Many Volkspartei members saw Neu Maessen as being a terrible city for legislating the new Gothic nation because of how many Volins were in the city. This resulted in the creation of Little Caldera in 1607, but residents of Neu Maessen enjoyed the area so much that they refused to move to a new city, legislating in Neu Maessen until it became illegal in 1619.

Geography
Neu Maessen is in eastern Austro-Caldera, in marshlands surrounded by plains. The land is mostly flat, but features some lower plateaus along the Klein river.

The climate is temperate, but Neu Maessen is an urban heat island, caused by heat being absorbed in the city's pavement and buildings. Because of this, Neu Maessen is 4 °C hotter than the surrounding area.

Architecture
The architecture of Neu Maessen is dominated by large skyscrapers in Hendalarsk style, with smaller residential blocks with sections for Volins, done in a traditional cabin style.

Demographics
While the majority of Neu Maessen is Gothic, it's also home to the largest Volin population outside of the Northeastern province. At the end of 2030, Neu Maessen had 2,850,809 million registered inhabitants in an area of 891.1 km2 (344.1 sq mi). The city's population density was 3,199 inhabitants per km2.

In 2024, Neu Maessen had 26,257 births (+5.5%), and the number of deaths was 21,203. Almost 2 million households were counted in the city, with 42 percent of them being single-person households. More than 448,000 families with children under the age of 18 lived in Neu Maessen. In 2024, the Calderan capital registered a migration of approximately 30,000 people.

Nationalities
International migration into the city has a long history, as the first founders of Neu Maessen were from Hendalarsk.

Active pro-Volin politics in Neu Maessen triggered waves of immigration in the 1860s and 1870s. Neu Maessen is home to at least 180,000 Volin and Volin Gothic residents, making it the largest Volin community outside of Bavogia. In the 1890s the Volkspartei enabled immigration to Austro-Caldera of some residents from the newly created United Angle States. Today, ethnic Ænglish from the United Angle States make up the largest portion of the Ænglish-speaking community. The last decade experienced an influx from various Occidental countries and some Levantine regions. Many foreigners are drawn to Neu Maessen for its tropical environment and high quality of life.

In December 2030, there were 665,234 registered residents of foreign nationality and another 431,864 Calderan citizens with a "migration background" (Migrationshintergrund), meaning they or one of their family members immigrated from a non-Gothic country to Caldera. Foreign residents of Neu Maessen originate from about 50 countries. 48 percent of the residents under the age of 15 have a migration background in 2027. Neu Maessen in 2019 was estimated to have 100,000 to 250,000 unregistered inhabitants. Neu Maessen could have the highest number of Arabic speakers in a non-Arab country, with 40,000 residents of Bulkh descent, and 20,000 of Yanuban descent.

There are more than 10 non-indigenous communities with a population of under 10,000 people, including Cartadanian,, Copacaban, Latin, Daxian, Cardan, Istroyan, Shingtoese, Capian, and Caphirian communities.

Languages
Calderan Gothic is the official and predominant spoken language in Neu Maessen. It's a variant of Gothic meant to be a pure form of Hendalarskisch.

Although Neu Maessenerisch, also called Neu Maessenisch, and Neussenisch is considered by some to be a dialect, this isn't true linguistically, and the accent itself is dying out due to increased immigration and the inclination of educated populations to speak standard Gothic.

The most commonly spoken languages (besides Gothic) in Neu Maessen are Ænglish, Volin, Aciriano, Russian, Arabic,, and Cartadanian.

Religion
On the report of the 2011 census, approximately 37 percent of the population reported being members of a legally-recognized church or religious organization. The rest either did not belong to such an organization, or there was no information available about them.

The largest religious denomination recorded in 2030 was the regional Catholic church established by Hendalarsk settlers. The second was Protestantism brought by various immigrants, and the third was Islam brought by immigrants from Bulkh and Yanuban.

Government and politics
Since the Volkspartei's founding in 1600, Neu Maessen has been controlled by a Volkspartei mayor. The mayor is chosen every 15 years and the Ænglish Minority Party has been a close runner several times thanks to the large number of immigrants. However, the Volkspartei always wins from majority Calderan, Bulkh, and Yanuban support. Even Burgoignesc migrants have supported the Volkspartei on occasions.

Campaign runs are dominated by the mayoral candidate begging support by migrant groups. In theory, if enough migrants voted for a non-Volkspartei mayor, one could be elected, but migrant groups are divided by picking candidates from political parties that personally support their group.

Because voters consistently and reliably vote for the Volkspartei, Neu Maessen is highly responsible for the provincial government also being Volkspartei.

Economy
In 2028, the GDP of Neu Maessen totaled 47 billion Calderan Piece, a 2.1% increase from the previous year. Neu Maessen's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 84% of all companies doing business in services. In 2025, the total labor force in Neu Maessen was 1.85 million. The unemployment rate reached a 22-year low in November 2025 and stood at 10.0%. From 2022 to 2025, Neu Maessen had the highest annual employment growth rate. Around 130,000 jobs were added in this period.

Important economic sectors in Neu Maessen include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.

Research and development have economic significance for the city. Several major corporations operate innovation laboratories, and the Calderan Institute of Science is the most scientifically advanced school in the country.

Companies
The majority of Calderan companies have business centers in Neu Maessen, and from 1998 until 2025, Neu Maessen was considered the best city to found a company in, according to the Volksspiegel newspaper. 70% of all Calderan corporations operate out of Neu Maessen, with an outlier of 15% operating out of Neu Maessen's suburb of Neu Berlin. Almost all businesses that operate in more than one province also operate in Neu Maessen, with the exception of Volin oriented businesses or factory unions which may operate in the Northeastern province and Western province, but ignore the Southeastern province as a whole.

Quality of life
According to the Neu Maessen based newspaper Volksspiegel, Neu Maessen has the highest quality of life out of any city in Crona. However, the Levantine Times Union ranks Neu Maessen at 33rd in quality of life globally.

In 2029, the Plaza Head of Bavogia Good Spirit stated that he wished Neu Maessen was within Bavogia, because Bavogia would easily become independent with "the nicest city in the world". Supporters of the Bavogian Freedom Party tried to pass a referendum that year to make Neu Maessen part of Bavogia, but the referendum failed due to Volkspartei influence over the city.

Roads
Neu Maessen has a complex system of highly maintained roads for a diverse range of urban mobility. These roads also provide direct routes for cyclists, who make extensive use of the roads. According to Volksspiegel, there are 722 cyclists per 1,000 residents.

Railways
While only 1 railway exits the city, Neu Maessen also has a tightly knit subway system to access any part of the city, as well as the city's primary suburb of Neu Berlin.

Waterways
The Klein river is restricted to professional use only, meaning that only freight ships and commercial passenger boats are allowed on the river, with any private use being fined. Passenger connections only travel between Neu Maessen, Little Caldera, and mainland Crona.

Buses
The number of intercity buses seems to be increasing, with public transport becoming increasingly popular in Neu Berlin and Little Caldera.

Airports
Neu Maessen is served by one international airport, Neu Maessen International Airport, which is located between Neu Maessen and Neu Berlin. This is also the largest international airport in Austro-Caldera, and Neu Maessen International offers taxi services to Little Caldera.

Energy
Neu Maessen is powered entirely by 3 nuclear power plants located within the city. These power plants also provide energy for Neu Berlin and smaller towns around the two cities.

Health
Unlike cities within Bavogia, Neu Maessen has entirely privatized healthcare for non-members of the Volkspartei. Charité Clinique, widely renowned for being Caldera's best hospital, operates mainly within Neu Maessen, with an emergency branch operating in Little Caldera and a free service in Movingwater, Bavogia.

Education
Neu Maessen has 524 schools teaching about 340 thousand students citywide. After students attend a 5 year primary school, they can choose to attend a 7 year bilingual school, or a regular 7 year college preparatory school which leads into a 2-6 year college.

The two most popular bilingual schools are Franz Gym and John Kiltz secondary, which offer Burgoignesc and Ænglish respectively.

Culture
Neu Maessen is known for various cultural institutions, especially those that catalog old Hendalarsk culture and its transition into modern Calderan culture. Many Volin institutions dedicated to the research of Volinism also exist. Neu Maessen has a vibrant music, dance, and theatrical scene, with many cinemas and movie production companies shooting in Neu Maessen.

Museums and art galleries
Neu Maessen is home to 138 museums and more than 300 art galleries. The city has an unofficial region called "museum district", which holds over 3 quarters of all of the museums in the city, as well as the oldest architecture and museum galleries. A small island in the Klein river houses a Gothic museum with a standing exhibition displaying over two millennia of Gothic history prior to the settling of Caldera.

The Calderan Space Program maintains the Calderan Space Museum in the museum district.

The Buht Mit Erotic Museum claimed to be the largest erotic museum in the world until it was closed in 1994.

Cuisine
Neu Maessen offers a wide variety of food from various cultures, but is most famous for its Gothic influence. 23 restaurants in Neu Maessen have had international articles written about them, and Neu Maessen is home to the largest delicatessen markets in the world.

The most popular street food is falafel, brought to Neu Maessen by immigrants from Bulkh.

Recreation
Neu Maessen includes various recreational spots, including 2 zoos, 3 gardens, and 2 parks. Neu Maessen also has numerous cafés, street musicians, beach bars along the Spree River, flea markets, boutique shops and pop-up stores.

Sports
Neu Maessen is the sporting capital of Austro-Caldera, with most national sporting events taking place in the city, as well as a few international events. Football, golf, and hockey are the 3 most popular sports in the city. One sport widely played in Caldera but not Neu Maessen is kravget, a Volin sport most popular in Bavogia.