Alois II (Liechtenstein)

Alois II. Josef Maria Johannes Baptista von und zu Liechtenstein (born  May 26, 1796 in Vienna ; †  November 12, 1858 in Schloss Eisgrub, today Schloss Lednice ) was the eleventh Prince of Liechtenstein from April 20, 1836 until his death . A liberal constitution he passed after the revolution of 1848 only lasted for a short time.

Alois II of Liechtenstein

biography

family

Prince Alois Josef Maria Johannes Baptista was born in 1796 as the second child of the Imperial and Royal Colonel and later General Field Marshal and Prince Johann I Josef (1760-1836) and his wife Josefa Sophie Landgräfin zu Fürstenberg-Weitra (1776-1848). He was taught by various selected teachers, including the history philosopher Friedrich Schlegel. At the succession of his father to the throne in 1805, he was made an hereditary prince. From 1806 to 1813 his younger brother Karl Johann Nepomuk (1803–1871) was nominally regent of Liechtenstein. Prince Alois' educational trip took him to Italy, Switzerland, England and Scotland. The Hereditary Prince married Countess Franziska Kinsky von Wchinitz and Tettau (1813–1881) on August 8, 1831 .

Their children together were:

• Princess Marie (1834–1909), ⚭ 1860 with Count Ferdinand von und zu Trauttmansdorff ROGV († 1896)
• Princess Karoline (1836–1885), ⚭ 1855 with Prince Alexander von Schönburg -Hartenstein ROGV († 1896)
• Princess Sophie (1837–1899), ⚭ 1863 with Prince Karl zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg ROGV († 1921)
• Princess Aloysia (1838–1920), ⚭ 1864 with Count Heinrich von Fünfkirchen († 1885)
• Princess Ida (1839–1921), ⚭ 1857 with Prince Adolph Joseph zu Schwarzenberg ROGV († 1914)
• Hereditary Prince Johann Maria Franz Placidus ROGV (1840–1929), from 1858 Prince Johann II.
• Princess Franziska (1841-1858)
• Princess Henriette (1843–1931), ⚭ 1865 with Prince Alfred von und zu Liechtenstein ROGV († 1907)
• Princess Anna (1846–1924), ⚭ 1864 with Prince Georg Christian von Lobkowitz (1835–1908)
• Princess Therese (1850–1938), ⚭ 1882 with Prince Arnulf of Bavaria ROGV († 1907)
• Prince Franz de Paula Maria Karl August ROGV (1853–1938), ⚭ 1929 with Elsa von Gutmann (1875–1947), from 1929 Prince Franz I.

Regency

Influenced by his experience of the British political system, he tended to be a liberal aristocracy in conservative society. After inheriting the great majorate on April 20, 1836, he had the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna and Eisgrub Castle redesigned. He also restored the Liechtenstein Chapel in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna and expanded the princely collection of paintings. In 1842 he was the first ruling prince to visit his country (Liechtenstein). On August 1, 1842, he enacted a new house law at Vaduz Castle, in which the primogeniture was newly regulated in accordance with the pragmatic sanction of 1713. Another visit to Liechtenstein followed in 1847. The regulation of the Rhine was started in cooperation with the Canton of St. Gallen . In 1852 Alois II signed a customs treaty with Austria. In 1849 the prince issued a provisional constitution for the Principality of Liechtenstein, which somewhat accommodated the demands of the residents.

Coat of arms of the princely family

Title, salutation and coat of arms

The full title of the prince was Prince von und zu Liechtenstein, Duke von Troppau and Jägerndorf , Count zu Rietberg , ruler of the House of von und zu Liechtenstein . Since the imperial award of the title on June 3, 1760, all members of the house have had the salutation of Your Highness (written form: SD) and bear the coat of arms of the Princely Family. Prince Alois II. Had been the 931th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since 1836 , Austrian award. In 1847 he donated the Liechtenstein military service award .

tomb

Liechtenstein crypt in Wranau

Prince Alois II and his wife were buried in the New Crypt of the Liechtenstein family crypt in Wranau , north of Brno.

literature

• Evelin Oberhammer: Liechtenstein, Alois II. Josef von. In: Historical Lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein .
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Liechtenstein, Alois Joseph Fürst . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1866, pp. 140–143 ( digitized version ).
• Wilhelm Karl Prince of Isenburg: Family tables on the history of the European states. Volume I. The German States . 2nd improved edition. JA Stargardt Verlag, Marburg 1953, plates 175–179.
• Detlef Schwennicke (Ed.): European family tables. Family tables on the history of the European states. New episode (EST NF), Volume III / 1 . JAStargardt Verlag, Marburg, (EST NF III / 1) panels 30–39.
• Norbert Jansen: Franz Josef II. Ruling prince from and to Liechtenstein. Festschrift for the 40th anniversary of the government of the SD Official Teaching Aid Publishing House, Vaduz 1978. (multilingual edition German-English-French).
• Deutsches Adelsarchiv eV (Hrsg.): Genealogical manual of the nobility (GHdA). Genealogical manual of the Princely Houses. Princely Houses Volume XIV . CA Starke Verlag Limburg ad Lahn, 1991, (GHdA Volume 100), pp. 65-84.
• Harald Wanger: The ruling princes of Liechtenstein . Frank P. van Eck Publishing House, Triesen 1995, ISBN 3-905501-22-8 .

Web links

Commons : Alois II. Von Liechtenstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portal of the Princely House of Liechtenstein - Prince Alois II.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann I. Josef	Prince of Liechtenstein 1836–1858	Johann II.