The Princes

Karl of Liechtenstein was raised in 1608 to the hereditary rank of prince and was thereby the first prince of Liechtenstein.

Prince Johann Adam Andreas acquired in 1699 the lordship of Schellenberg and in 1712 the county of Vaduz. In 1719 the Emperor Karl VI unified Vaduz and Schellenberg and elevated them to the rank of Imperial Principality Liechtenstein. Thereby the Principality of Liechtenstein was established.

Until 1938 the princes of Liechtenstein lived in Vienna and Moravia. They had important functions in the military and diplomacy domains of the Habsburg Monarchy and administrated their extensive properties in Lower Austria, Bohemia, Silesia and Moravia.

In 1938 Prince Franz Joseph II was the first prince to reside in Liechtenstein.