Philipp von Lattorff

The House of Liechtenstein (Haus Liechtenstein), from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein.

Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne.

The dynasty's membership, rights and responsibilities are defined by a law of the family, which is enforced by the reigning prince and may be altered by vote among the family's dynasts, but which may not be altered by the Government or Parliament of Liechtenstein.

The family originates from Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria (near Vienna), which the family possessed from at least 1136 to the 13th century, and from 1807 onwards.

The progenitor Hugo von Liechtenstein (d. 1156) built Liechtenstein Castle around 1122-36 on a fief that he received from the Babenberg margraves of Austria.

He also received Petronell on the Danube and Rohrau Castle, near the then border with the Kingdom of Hungary, at first as a fief, from 1142 as a free property (allod).

Heinrich I (d. 1265), lord of Liechtenstein and Petronell, was given the lordship of Nikolsburg in southern Moravia as free property from Ottokar II of Bohemia, whom he supported politically, in 1249.

When he fell out of favor with Albert III, Duke of Austria, for whom he had long conducted government business, he lost his lands south of the Danube, but could keep Nikolsburg because Bohemia and Moravia did not come to the Habsburgs until 1526.

Through the centuries, the dynasty acquired vast swathes of land, predominantly in Moravia, Lower Austria, Silesia and Styria, though in all cases, these territories were parts of countries that were ruled by other dynasties, particularly the House of Habsburg, to whom several Liechtenstein princes served as close advisers.

It remained one of the most important seats until it was sold in 1560.

In 1394, John I of Liechtenstein, lord of Nikolsburg (d. 1397), acquired the Feldsberg estate (then Lower Austria, today Valtice, Czech Republic).

In 1622, Maximilian founded a monastery in Vranov, in whose family crypt almost all Liechtenstein princes were buried, until a new crypt was built in Vaduz in 1960.

Without any territory held directly under the Imperial throne, the Liechtenstein dynasty was unable to meet a primary requirement to qualify for a seat in the Imperial Diet (Reichstag).

A seat would add power, and would be afforded by lands which would be immediate, or held without any feudal personage other than the Holy Roman Emperor himself having rights on the land.

The head of the family was able to arrange the purchase from the Hohenems family of the minuscule Lordship of Schellenberg in 1699, and the County of Vaduz in 1712.

Schellenberg and Vaduz indeed had no feudal lord other than their comital sovereign and the suzerain Emperor.

On 23 January 1719, after the purchase had been made, Charles VI as Holy Roman Emperor decreed Vaduz and Schellenberg to be united and raised to the dignity of a Principality by the name of "Liechtenstein", in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein".

On this date, Liechtenstein became a member state of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Princes of Liechtenstein did not set foot in their new principality for several decades, a testament to the pure political expediency of the purchases.

Since the distant little country consisted only of small farming villages, the administration was installed in the nearest town, Feldkirch in Austria, where the prince had an office building built for this purpose.

In 1802 Velké Losiny was added.

With the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Principality of Liechtenstein became sovereign and was recognized in this status by the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815.

Johann I became the first sovereign ruler.

He acquired a number of castles and estates in Austria for his numerous sons, which are still mostly inhabited by their descendants today.

The reigning princes continued to live in their magnificent Vienna residences, Liechtenstein City Palace and Liechtenstein Garden Palace, and on their Moravian and Bohemian estates, with Lednice and Valtice (German names: Eisgrub and Feldsberg) as their main residence.

The border between Austria and Bohemia-Moravia, both member states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the Habsburg rule, ran through the park between the two castles.

The local administration of the Principality of Liechtenstein was overseen by a governor, and the government office was located at the prince's seat.

It was not until the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945) by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II that the residence was moved from Valtice to Vaduz.

Most of these estates remained in the possession of the princely house until Czechoslovakia expropriated them in 1945.

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the three brothers Karl, Maximilian and Gundakar initiated a new period in the family history.

They reconverted from Protestantism to Catholicism and supported the Habsburg Emperors in crushing the Bohemian Revolt.

Maximilian, as Field Marshal, won the Battle of White Mountain for Emperor Ferdinand II.

On diplomatic missions, Gundaker prepared the Catholic League, which fought for the Habsburgs in the Thirty Years' War.

Karl restored order as Viceroy of Bohemia and oversaw the arrests and executions of the 27 leaders of the uprising.

For this they were all three made princes.

In addition, they were able to cheaply acquire huge lands from expelled and dispossessed Protestant nobles in Bohemia and Moravia, especially since Karl himself, as the Emperor's representative, carried out these confiscations.

He also received the Duchy of Troppau and the Duchy of Krnov (Jägerndorf) in Silesia from the Emperor.

The respective Fürst still holds these two ducal titles to this day.

The Moravian and Bohemian possessions acquired at the time included: Bučovice, Moravská Třebová, Moravský Krumlov, Uherský Ostroh (with Kunovice and Hluk), Šternberk and a palace in Prague (on Malostranské náměstí).

Vaduz Castle, the center of the medieval county of that name, remained unused and was rented out as a restaurant for hikers until the late 19th century.