Holy Roman Empire: LIECHTENSTEIN

Titles: His Serene Highness, Prince von und zu Liechtenstein, Duke of Troppau and Jagerndorf, Count of Rietberg, Ostfriesland and Vaduz, Lord of the Kuenringe, Schellenberg, Feldsberg, Kromau and Ostrau. All other members of the dynasty are Prince(ss) von und zu Liechtenstein, Count(ess) of Rietberg.

Area of Principality of Liechtenstein: 62 sq. mi.
"The territory of Liechtenstein comprehends 2.45 German square miles; but the mediatized principalities and lordships belonging to the prince of Liechtenstein, include 104 German square miles: they are situated in Austria, Moravia, Silesia, Bohemia, Hungary, and Styria." (Hawkins, p. 453)

Motto: "Klar und Fest" ("Clear and Firm")

Territorial Development & Dynastic History

Hugo of Liechtenstein

1136: First mention of Hugo of Liechtenstein

Mid-1100s: Hugo of Liechtenstein "...built or bought a castle on a chalky white rock ('lichter Stein) near Maria Enzersdorf...."

1142: "...Hugo of Liechtenstein acquired Petronell, an important outpost on the Danube to the east of Vienna...."

1200s: "The family divided into three lines, the Liechtenstein, the Rohrauer and the Petroneller. The last two named became extinct already in the next generation and in consequence a great deal of the family property was lost"

Heinrich of Liechtenstein

1249: " Heinrich (I) of Liechtenstein (d.1265/66) received from Przemysl Ottokar of Bohemia an estate in the area of Nikolsburg (Mikulov), in Moravia to the north of Vienna"

Johann of Liechtenstein

1370: " Johann (I) of Liechtenstein bought Eisgrub (Lednice)"
1386: "Johann (I) concluded a family agreement on the indivisibility of its principal estates, which were to remain the common property of the family"
1394: "Johann (I) of Liechtenstein, chamberlain of the royal household of the Habsburg Duke Albrecht III, after nearly 30 years of government leadership on the Duke's behalf, virtually lost, together with his family, all the family's possessions, especially those in the south of the Danube, probably as a result of the Habsburg's power political aspirations"
1395: " Johann (I) acquired the neighbouring Feldsberg (Valtice) by marriage"
1451: "Another family property agreement was put in place that was soon followed by an amicable division in which the family split into the branches named after Nikolsburg and Feldsberg"

Christoph of Liechtenstein

1455: "Christoph (III), of the Nikolsburg branch, represented the Moravian nobility at the Imperial Diet in Frankfurt"
1487: "Christoph (III) was appointed Land Marshal of Austria (King's representative) by Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Bohemia in 1487 and campaigned against Emperor Friedrich III of Habsburg"
1504: "Christoph (III) negotiated an agreement with his nephew that gave family members a prior right to buy any property that another member wished to sell and which made provision for the settlement of internal family disputes"
1500s: "With the Family Covenant of 1504, three lines were formed, a Stezregger, a Feldsberger and a Nikolsburger line. Only the Feldsberger line survived longer than a few generations"

1560: Christoph (IV) sold Nikolsburg
1563: Christoph (IV) was obliged to assign the family seniority to his cousins of the Feldsberg branch

Georg of Liechtenstein

1529: "Georg (VI) played a leading part in the defence of Vienna during the first Turkish siege"

Wolfgang of Liechtenstein

1571: Wolfgang (II) sold Eisgrub

Hartmann of Liechtenstein

(d.1585)

1575: Hartmann (II) (1544-1585) was able to buy back the Eisgrub estate from the Emperor.

"...Earl Hartmann IV, who died in in 1585, left behind two sons, Charles and Gundakar, who respectively in 1618 and 1623, were promoted to princes by the emperors Matthias and Ferdinand, while at the same time was was invested with the Silesia principalities of Troppau and Jagerndorf...." (Ungewitter, p. 351)

Karl I of Liechtenstein

1597: Karl and Maximilian married sisters through whom they acquired the rich Boskowitz inheritance in Moravia
1606: Karl I acquired the Great Count Palatinate
1606: Karl, Maximilian and Gundaker signed another Family Covenant which dictated, among others, that the first-born of the oldest descendant line should have the right to the heritable title and should represent the House as a regent; the brothers signed a fideicommissa, a device of private nobiliary law originating in Spain by which a perpetual entail was placed on the landed possessions that lay at the core of the family' wealth
1607: The Emperor bestowed in Karl I the privilege of coining money, building castles, approving markets, awarding titles, etc.
1608: HRE Princely rank for Liechtenstein family
1608: Karl I acquired the rank of hereditary prince, the first non-ruling noble to be elevated to this title
1612: Karl I was sent to Frankfurt to prepare the election and coronation of Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor
1613: Against a payment of 159,000 gulden, Karl I was assigned the Duchy of Troppau in Silesia by which he acquired his own Diet with four estates of prelates, gentry, knights and towns, together with a seat in the Silesian House of Princes.
1622: Karl I received the Order of the Golden Fleece which brought the Liechtensteins into the top rank of the aristocratic families of the Empire
1622: Karl I was appointed Governor and Viceroy of Bohemia
1622: Gundaker bought Krumau in Moravia and Ostra in Hungary
1623: Maximilian and Gundaker were named in the rank of hereditary imperial prince
1623: Karl receive the grant of the Duchy of Jagerndorf
1633: "Gundaker, who was very close to the Emperors Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III, founded a monastery at Wranau... In the same year, the emperor elevated Mahrisch (Moravian) Kromau and Ungarisch (Hungarian) Ostra into a principality of Liechtenstein but it was not, however, directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor.
1655: Settlement of Karl II's acquisition of the large Schwarzkostelets estate (nearly 10,000 hectares) by the payment of over a million gulden
1688 & 1691: Last two male members of the Nikolsburg branch died out

Johann Adam of Liechtenstein

1699: Johann Adam I purchased the Lordship of Schellenberg thereby gaining a hereditary seat on the Princes' Bench of the Swabian Circle
1707: Admission to College of Princes of Swabia
1712: The line of Prince Karl I became extinct and Anton Florian, a descendant of Gundaker, became the Ruling Prince
1712: Johann Adam I purchased the County of Vaduz
1712: Principality of Liechtenstein
1713: Anton Florian gained a seat for life in the Diet (HRE Council of Princes)
1719: Establishment, as the 343rd state of the Holy Roman Empire, of the Principality of Liechtenstein from Hohenems-Vaduz and Schellenberg
1806: Joined the Confederation of the Rhine
1815: Joined the German Confederation

Rulers of Liechtenstein

Karl I (1569-1627)

Prince of Liechtenstein1608-1627

Founder of the House of Liechtenstein

1599-1607: Chief Chamberlain to Emperor Rudolf II

1599: Grand Palatine

1614: Ruled in the Duchy of Torppau in the recently acquired Silesia

1622: Governor and Vice-Regent of Bohemia

1622: Enfoeffed with the Silesian Duchy of Jagerndorf

1627-1684: Karl II Eusebius (1611-1684)

1684-1712: Johann Adam I (1657-1712)

the Rich

"...[W]hat the Emperor needed in the valley of the Upper Rhine, which was fraught with such political, military and confessional sensitivity, was a reliable, substantial and effective nobleman. This he found in Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Lichtenstein, nicknamed 'the Rich'. In 1699 the Prince bought the Lordship of Schellenberg for 115,000 florins (perhaps 1.05 million pounds today), securing also a first option on Vaduz... In 1712 the county of Vaduz passed to Prince Hans-Adam I for 290,000 florins (69,000 in cash, plus the Liechtensteins' estate of Bisrau in Bohemia...."

1712-1718 : Joseph Wenzel I

1719-1721: Anton Florian (1656-1721)

"...The Liechtensteins were loyal servants of the Habsburgs, the Holy Roman Emperors. Anton Florian served as their ambassador to the Papal Court in Rome, as prime minister, and as educator of the emperor's son Archduke Karl...." (Eccardt, p. 179)

1721-1732: Josef Johann Adam

1732-1745: Josef Wenzel I

"...Florian's nephew Prince Josef Wenzel served as imperial ambassador to the sumptuous royal court of Louis XV in Paris...." (Eccardt, p. 179)

1732-1748: Johann Nepomuk Karl

1748-1772: Josef Wenzel I (1696-1772)

"...inherited 632 paintings from Hans-Adam I..." "When Anton Florian's male descendants died out in 1748, his nephew Josef Wenzel became Sovereign Prince for the second time... In 1717 he fought as a captain under Prince Eugene of Savoy at the caputre of Belgrade. By 1734, serving again with Prince Eugene, he was a lieutenant field marshal.

1772-1781: Franz Josef I

"...A daughter of Hans-Adam I, who inherited much from him and much from her husband (a Savoy-Carignan), left her large legacy to Prince Franz Josef I (1726-1781), who incorporated it into the fideicommissa...."