![The King of Brig used his power mercilessly. Illustration by Marco Heer](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/Illu-Teil-2-neu-300x225.jpg)
Neutrality as a business model
Amidst the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War, Kaspar Stockalper held three trump cards: the Simplon pass, mercenaries and salt. From the seat of his trading empire in Brig, he developed the cunning yet lucrative strategy of international double dealing.
Debt collector and diplomat
Short video clip about Kaspar Stockalper (in German) YouTube / NZZ
![Mercenaries were a sought-after resource in the Thirty Years’ War.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/dreissigjahriger-krieg-300x222.jpg)
Salt – white gold
![Refining salt from sea salt, from “De re metallica libri XII”, 1556.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/salzgewinnung-1-300x284.jpg)
![In 1669, “the King of Simplon”, Kaspar Stockalper, was at the height of his powers. This portrait can be admired in the Knights’ Hall of the Stockalper Palace.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/stockalper-zu-pferd-221x300.jpg)
The King of Brig
In a three-part series, historian and author Helmut Stalder charts the rise and fall of Kaspar Stockalper, the “King of Brig”:
Part 1: The geopolitician from Brig
Part 2: Neutrality as a business model
Part 3: Making money till the end