Prince Anton Florian   1718 - 1721

Anton Florian (born 1656, died 1721) had been prepared thoroughly for assuming political offices. Already in 1691 he was ambassador at the papal court in Rome. In 1695, he became Chief Intendant of the royal palace of the young Archduke Karl, being in charge of the latter's education. During the Spanish War of Succession he went to Spain together with Karl, where he was chief intendant and prime minister of the archduke. When the latter became Emperoras Karl VI, after the sudden death of his brother in 1711, Anton Florian returned to Vienna, too, where he was a central political figure as imperial chief intendant and chairman of the Secret Council until his death.

Thanks to the support of Emperor Karl VI, he was admitted "ad personam" within the Imperial Council of Princes in 1713. His followers could receive such a distinction only if they proved to have a property directly subordinated to the emperor. In 1719, Emperor Karl VI unified Vaduz and Schellenberg and elevated them to the status of Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein. This is how the Principality of Liechtenstein emerged. Through the employment briefing from 1719, Prince Anton Florian wanted to modernize the country in the spirit of absolutism.