Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Wedding of Prince Hans-Adam and Princess Marie

Heute (that's German, Liechtenstein's official language, for today) the Prince Hans-Adam II and the Princess Marie are celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary, so in good new Luxarazzi 101 tradition, we will grab the chance to have a look at their nuptials and the events surrounding it.
Photo: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt
The engagement of then Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam and Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau was announced on 17 April 1966 after Liechtenstein's newspapers had speculated about an imminent engagement for quite a while. Some sources say that the couple already got privately engaged a year earlier.

The couple had first met in the summer of 1961 when the then twenty-one-year-old countess was visiting family members in the Principality and Princess Gina invited her to the castle. While Prince Hans-Adam II, just 16 at the time, claims that it was love at first sight for him, it took his chosen one a little longer. The engagement, however, did not come as a surprise as rumours were flying high in Liechtenstein after the couple had been spotted out and about a couple of times.

It was decided that the nuptials were to take place on 30 July 1967 in order to give the Hereditary Prince, just 21 at the time of his engagement, another year to advance with his studies. There were another few events held to celebrate the couple in advance to the wedding which was scheduled to take place on a Sunday. As it was the case with their oldest son's wedding, the population of the alpine Principality was also heavily involved in the celebrations.
Press reception and pre-wedding ball at Schloss Vaduz (Photos: Historischer Verein)
In rather small fashion, the couple welcomed the government at Schloss Vaduz on Wednesday to receive a few gifts, including a sapphire necklace for the future Hereditary Princess that could be converted into a tiara. (In case you have ever seen her with a sapphire necklace, make sure to send a picture in, please!) On Thursday there was the vernissage of an exhibition by local artists in Vaduz and a concert of chamber music in Balzers. A day later, on Friday, the couple met with the press at the Waldhotel Vaduz where they answered the questions of the international media.

On Friday night, the bridal soirée for members of the bridal couple's families, royal and noble relatives as well as politicians and diplomats was held at Schloss Vaduz. If media reports are to be believed, they partied until dawn. Countess Marie wore a white and yellow beaded gown by Balmain and a small bandeau tiara.
Photos: Historischer Verein / Getty Images
The day of the wedding of Prince Hans-Adam II and Princess Marie started with the bridal procession from Schloss to the government building in cars and from government building to the St. Florin church by foot. While then Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam was accompanied by his mother, then Countess Marie was led to the altar by her father, Count Ferdinand Kinsky. 

The couple had chosen to have bridal children from all of the eleven municipalities of the Principality though their most prominent one, the Kranzelkind, was Prince Wenzel, Hans-Adam's youngest brother.
Photos: Bunte / Historischer Verein
Princess Marie wore an empire-style gown by Parisian couturier Jacques Heim made of white silk and with a broad pearl beading along the edges of the train, sleeves and where the dress parted in the middle. She anchored her veil with the Habsburg Fringe Tiara, brought into the family by the groom's grandmother, Archduchess Elisabeth. In doing so, she was the first bride in the family to chose this tiara as her wedding tiara, an example later to be followed by her sister-in-law Princess Isabelle.

The Prince and the Princess were married by the bishop of Chur, Johannes Vonderach, with lots of other clergy also present. The witnesses to their marriage were the groom's brothers, Prince Philipp and Prince Nikolaus, as well as Count Ferdinand Kinsky, Count Hans Kinsky, Count Christian of Salen-Reifferscheidt-Raitz and Alexander Frick, deputy of the parliament. For the church service, music by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Alessandro Scarlatti and Johann Friedrich Fasch was chosen.

The guest list of the wedding events read like the who is who of German speaking nobility including the Houses of Habsburg-Lorraine, Bavaria, Hanover, Württemberg, Hesse, Baden and many more. In addition there were Queen Annemarie of the Hellenes, Princess Irene of Greece and Queen Sofia of Spain, at the time still princess of Spain.
Video: Critical Past

After the church service was over, the guest processed to the town hall of Vaduz from where the guests of the Princely Family departed via car to the castle for a reception including a seven course meal cooked by Felix Real. Meanwhile, the guests of the government went to a nearby hotel where another reception took place and was also attended the newly weds for a while.

Like it is a tradition in the Principality, a parade and public festival took place in the afternoon and evening hours of the day. To round off the celebrations, there was a fireworks display. Afterwards, the couple embarked on their honeymoon. While it was revealed that their first stop would be Paris, the other destinations were kept secret.

Two Princesses, A Future Princess and A Polo Match

Photo: Polo Consult
Just like they did last year, Princess Marie-Astrid and Princess Maria-Anunciata, who, I think, might be wearing a dress by Carolina Herrera, were guests at the Pro Alvear Polo Cup earlier this month. The charity event, which takes place every year at the polo club in Saint Tropez, raises money for the Fundación Pro Alvear, that supports the educational, social and economic development of the Pampas region in Argentina. Also among the guests was Prince Félix's future wife Claire Lademacher.

More pictures are available at Polo Consult and Camino Real International Polo


Source: Fundación Pro Alvear, Polo Consult

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Margarita Klien, Princess of Liechtenstein (1950-2013)

Photo: Volksblatt
Margarita Klien, Princess of Liechtenstein died on 25 July. The princess, who was born on 1 May 1950 in Vienna, was the oldest child of Prince Georg of Liechtenstein and his wife née Duchess Marie-Christine of Württemberg and thus cousin of the Prince Hans-Adam II. She is survived by her husband, Johannes Peter Klien, and their children Elena and Michael, daughter-in-law Paula and granddaughter Joséphine.

Princess Margarita will be laid to rest in Wolfurt in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg on next Friday with a requiem held in Liechtenstein afterwards. Her death is announced by both the Princely Family as well as through a death notice by her own family in tomorrow's edition of the Liechtensteiner Volksblatt.


Source: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, 29/07/2013

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Chapel of Schloss Vaduz

In the southern wing of Schloss Vaduz, the official residence of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, the castle chapel of Saint Anne, or Anna in German, is located. The chapel has both a religious as well as a - and that's a little more surprising - worldly, or in other words political, function. But let's talk about its history and interior first.
Adrian Hasler, Liechtenstein's prime minister, is sworn in by
Hereditary Prince Alois in front of the altar at the chapel of Schloss Vaduz
(Photos: IKR)
The origins of the castle chapel lie in the High Middles Ages when Schloss Vaduz was presumably built by the family of the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. It is generally assumed that the part of the building was erected before the first known mention of the castle in 1322. In 1416, the barons of Brandis took full possession of the castle above Vaduz and it was the Brandis family who gave it a remodelling and chose to dedicate it to Saint Anne, believed to be the mother of the Virgin Mary and thus grandmother of Jesus Christ.

The remodelling had become necessary, after the Swabian War of 1499 had destroyed large parts of the castle. Archeological finds made in 1995, suggest that the chapel was once used as a storage room for grain as different kinds where found in the deepest layer of the floor.

In 1511, the Saint Anne congregation was founded and exists to this day. Looking at the way the chapel looks these days, it becomes clear it underwent a few remodellings and renovations since the Middle Ages, for example in 1905 and most recently in 1995.

Considering the collecting passion of the prince of Liechtenstein over the centuries, it is not very surprising that the chapel is full of distinguished treasures of art. The late Gothic high altar's polyptych shows a group of Vesper, the inner panels depict St Barbara and St Katharina and the side panels the ten thousand martyrs of Mount Ararat. The predella shows a painting of the 11,000 virgins of Cologne supposedly martyred by Attila the Hun in 383. Three statues are placed on the tabernacle of the canopy, namely Anna selbdritt, Saint Sebastian and Martin of Tours.

Swearing in of the government in 1965
by Prince Franz Joseph II
The castle chapel is the private chapel of the Princely Family and regularly used by them for mass. Once a year, on the Wednesday of the rogation week - the week of Feast of the Ascension, in case you are not too much into Catholic holidays - the parish of Vaduz makes a pilgrimage to the chapel. Old church books tell that masses where held at the castle's chapel for regular folks every once in a while.

The entrance of the chapel of St Anne is through the courtyard, while the gallery is accessed through the castle itself.

In one of the most surprising things you'll probably ever hear about happening in a Catholic church, the chapel is also used to swear in the government of Liechtenstein. At first the sovereign prince or his regent swear in the prime minister and afterwards the head of government then swears in his ministers. Parts of the procedure can be seen in this video (starting at about 6:05).

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Empire Tiara

Empire Tiara? Luxembourg? Fair enough, your likely confusion is all too understandable... Even though once upon a time Luxembourg had been bigger, it certainly was never considered to be an empire; and neither was the Duchy of Nassau which was once reigned by the Grand Ducal Family for that matter. The whopper of the Grand Ducal collection is, however, still known by exactly this name, the (Luxembourg) Empire Tiara.

The name though is most likely a case of something getting lost in translation. In French this piece is usually known as grand diadème and in German as Reiches Diadem, the translation of the latter one seems to be the source of the confusion. Diadem is simply another word for tiara, but while the German noun Reich means empire in English, reich as an adjective (the -es simply is an inflection) would translate to rich. So, it's rather a "rich tiara" than an "empire tiara" but as the name certainly fits its proportions, there is no harm in using it.

While the history and provenance of one of the biggest tiaras of all the reigning - and non-reigning, really - European families isn't lost in translation, there still is not much known about it. The Empire Tiara had its first prominent outing as the wedding tiara of Grand Duchess Charlotte - later to be repeated by her younger sister, Princess Hilda - when Charlotte tied the knot with Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma in 1919 though it certainly is much older than that.
Grand Duchess Charlotte and Princess Hilda at their weddings
The lack of information available has made room for many speculations; the two most common stories told involve either Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, the first wife of Grand Duke Adolph, or Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden, Adolph's daughter. The first theory claims that the tiara was part of the massive dowry of Grand Duchess Elizabeth and is fueled by the bling's sheer size and carat power, which make it is easy to believe that the piece has a Romanov provenance. The other theory tells us that the tiara was left to Grand Duchess Charlotte by her aunt Grand Duchess Hilda when she died childless as she did indeed leave some of her jewels to her Luxembourgish nieces. 

As interesting as they are, both theories can be dismissed for simple timeline reasons. The Empire Tiara entered the Nassau family sometime between 1813 and 1829 and as Adolph was born in 1817 and didn't firstly marry until 1844, there isn't much to them. 

Why the timeframe of 16 years, you might rightfully ask? The Nassau family used to have inventories of their jewellery every once in a while. (You know you have a seriously big jewel vault when you need to have jewel inventories, I guess...) They had one in 1813 and this tiara wasn't mentioned, whereas in 1829 (and 1859) it was, so unless they simply overlooked it in the vaults - which admittedly would be kind of hard when it comes to this wall of diamonds - it's a save bet that it came into the family during the years inbetween.

The Empire Tiara's exact provenance, however, still remains a secret and the details are a little shaky. In 1829, Frankfurt-based jeweller Jakob Tillmann Speltz worked on the tiara though the records do not indicate whether he designed and realised the piece or whether he just made adjustments by adding another few carats. As Speltz worked for many important people during that time, it certainly is a possibility that he was the tiara's creator.

The style and craftsmanship of the tiara has certain Parisian elements and are typical for its time - the end of the French empire and restoration period - though it seems that many German jewellers picked up the ideas of their French counterparts and created tiaras in similar style. If the tiara indeed is of French provenance, it's most likely that Duke Wilhelm of Nassau, father of Grand Duke Adolph, bought the piece from a French noble family who had run into financial difficulties after the end of Napoléon I's reign and had it reworked in 1829 by Speltz to gift it to his second wife, Princess Pauline of Württemberg, who he married that same year.
Grand Duchess Charlotte, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa
Venturing further into unconfirmed speculation, it is often said that the Empire Tiara used to be a convertible piece, breaking up into other tiaras, rings and brooches, though it seems that if was fixed into its current setting instructed by Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, who had many of the family's as well as her own jewels reworked. The tiara is 10.5 centimetre (4.1 inches) high and has a diameter of 19 centimetre (7.5 inches).

These days, Luxembourg's Empire Tiara is the only piece in the Grand Ducal collection that is solely reserved for the use of the Grand Duchess. In fact, this has been the case for the past 100 years or so; the only known exception being aforementioned Princess Hilda who wore it at her wedding to Adolph, 10th Prince of Schwarzenberg in 1930.

Even the Grand Duchesses reserve this tiara for very special events and don't get it out of the vaults for just anyone. Apart from her wedding day and many state occasions, Grand Duchess Charlotte also wore the tiara on the day she abdicated in favour of her oldest son, Grand Duke Jean, and then handed it over to her daughter-in-law, Joséphine-Charlotte, who continued the policy of only wearing it for the most important events before turning it over to today's wearer when her husband abdicated.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa also followed the precedence set by her mother- and grandmother-in-law by only wearing it four times since her husband ascended to the throne in 2000. She chose the Empire Tiara to adorn her head on a state visits to Belgium and Netherlands, both closely associated with the Grand Ducal Family as well as Luxembourg through political, economical and familiar ties, for the wedding of the only European heiress apparent at the time, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and for an official portrait.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Grand Duke to Dissolve Parliament

After a short time of consideration and another few meetings with Luxembourg's political leaders, Grand Duke Henri announced on Friday that he has decided that he will dissolve the Chamber of Deputies on 7 October, so that new elections can take place on 20 October. The Grand Duke will sign the necessary documents in the days to come.

With his decision, Grand Duke Henri is following the recommendations of a parliamentary constitutional committee and not the State Council which preferred an immediate dismissal of parliament due to the current rift between government and parliament expressing that a delayed dismissal wouldn't reflect the spirit of the constitution.


Source: Wort

Today in Belgium

Photo: ORF
In case you haven't been living under a happy little rock during the last few days and weeks, you are probably all too aware that today is a big day in Belgium. This morning, King Albert II abdicated and about an hour later King Philippe, or Filip depending on which of Belgium's languages you prefer, took his oath in front of the two parliaments.

Grand Duke Henri, whose mother, the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, was a sister of King Albert II and thus a Princess of Belgium as well, sent two letters of congratulations to his uncle and cousin.

To King Albert II

Majesty,
on the occassion of Your abdication, I would like to express my deepest respect for Your great skill and Your exemplary commitment during Your reign. The Grand Duchess and my family join me in wishing You as well as Her Majesty Queen Paola much happiness and joy in this new stage of Your life.

Henri,
Grand Duke of Luxembourg

To King Philippe

Majesty,

on the occassion of Your inauguration, the Grand Duchess and the people of Luxembourg join me in offering You as well as Her Majesty the Queen our warmest congratulations wishing You every success in the excercise of the great responsibilities entrusted in You. The wishes may apply to Your personal happiness and that of the Royal Family as well as for the prosperity of the Belgian people who are united with the Luxembourgish people by so many ties of friendship and cooperation.

Henri,
Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Source: Cour grand-ducale

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A Lovely Summer Surprise *

Photo: Gerry Huberty / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Traditionally, the Grand Ducal summer (and holiday) time does not only bring us less public appearances - boo! - but also rare appearances - yeah! -  in the form of Prince Louis and Princess Tessy being on official duty that isn't a family duty. The lovely couple visited the premises of the project "Streetwork" by Caritas Luxembourg.

The project try to provide activities and a port of call in cases of questions and problems for teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 26 from difficult backgrounds. Prince Louis and Princess Tessy specifically viewed a newly opened gym that has been installed to give young people a way to rebuild confidence while learning that strength does not have to go hand in hand with violence.

On a sidenote, this was not only a nice summer surprise but also a surprise in general as this visit was the first big official engagement that Louis and Tessy had together. We have seen them attending events together with other family members in the past but to the best of our combined recollections this is the first time that they ventured out of their home together all on their own. Me likey, where can I sign a petition to make this happen more often?!

A bunch of pictures are located at Wort in French, Wort in English and on the website of the cour, while RTL has a video.


Source: Wort

Luxarazzi 101: Grand Duke Adolph

When Adolph Wilhelm Carl August Friedrich of Nassau-Weilburg was born at Biebrich Castle in the Duchy of Nassau on 24th July 1817 to Duke Wilhelm (1792 - 1839) and Duchess Luise (neé Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen, 1794 - 1825), no one could have imagined that he would become the founder of a new European dynasty.

Prince Adolph
He was named in honour of his ancestor Adolph of Nassau, German king between 1292 and 1298, and had nine godparents; among them King Wilhelm of the Netherlands, his predecessor on the Luxembourgish throne.

From the age of five Adolph was privately educated by Georg Lorberg and Christoph Resius together with his elder sister Therese (1815-1871). Little is known about this time but he was educated according to the curriculum of the public grammar school of Weilburg (Öffentliches Gymnasium Weilburg) as well as in court-etiquette, military sciences and French. His teachers described him as a wild child who had difficulties meeting their demands. He was also described as smart with a wide variety of interests. When Adolph was twelve, Philipp Leyendecker began educating him in math and swimming.

Adolph's mother, Duchess Luise, died in 1825 and his father, Duke Wilhelm, married Princess Pauline of Württemberg in 1828. Unfortunately, there are no documents known that describe Adolph's feelings concerning his mother’s death or his father’s remarriage. We can speculate that the death was a terrible shock for the whole family as the ducal family was always described as very close with Luise as a beloved mother who personally cared for her children.

Between 1837 and 1839 Adolph and his younger brother Moritz (1820 - 1850) lived in Vienna to study law, politics, war sciences, languages, physics and chemistry. They didn’t attend public lectures at Vienna University but rented a house instead and the professors held their lectures in a private atmosphere.

Shortly after Adolph’s return to Nassau his father died because of a stroke and at the age of 22 he became the Duke of Nassau, a job for which he had not yet been fully trained. During the next four years, Adolph enjoyed his bachelor years while travelling throughout Europe and hunting in Nassau and Austria. This shows how little Adolph was interested in his office in the beginning and as a result his work experience was quite low. Due to his frequent absence as well as the influence of his stepmother, a few problems arose.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth
In September 1843 Adolph got engaged to Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, a niece of Czar Nikolai I. It can be assumed that the couple knew each other before through Adolph’s stepmother Pauline of Württemberg who was the maternal aunt of Elisabeth. The couple married in St. Petersburg on January 31, 1844. The 17 year old bride was the second of Michail and Helen of Russia's three daughters.

It is important to mention the marriage contract, which ensured that Elisabeth would retain her customary standard of living. One million silver-roubles (more than 10,000,000 US dollars today) was paid as it was custom for daughters and granddaughters of Russian Czars.

The first half was paid in the Duchy of Nassau, 250,000 at the time of the wedding and another 250,000 six months after it. Adolph was to pay 4% interest to his wife per year. The duchess-to-be could use this interest for her personal use. The other 500,000 silver-roubles was to stay in Russia. Another part of the marriage contract became a sad reality not long after the marriage. Article 14 of the contract handled the possibility of Elisabeth’s death without having children. If Elisabeth died before Adolph and the marriage was childless 750,000 silver-roubles of the dowry would return to Russia but the interest and 250,000 silver-roubles should stay in Nassau. The dowry also included jewellery, fine furniture, china and porcelain.

Duke Adolph in 1835
The ducal couple was described as very happy and in love throughout their short marriage. Elisabeth was very popular in Nassau and she travelled around with her husband to get to know her new home country. Her first pregnancy was announced in June 1844.

Unfortunately the Duchess became very ill and on January 27th 1845, almost a year after their marriage, she gave birth to a daughter who died shortly after that. Elisabeth died a day later. The autopsy showed that she had suffered from an aggressive type of tuberculosis. None of her doctors had diagnosed this before, even though Elisabeth had complained about difficulties while breathing during her whole pregnancy. They thought that her health issues were ‘normal’ pregnancy difficulties but nothing serious.

Adolph was shocked and depressed about his losses and left Nassau to rehab in Ischl. In October 1845 he returned to Biebrich Castle and decided to build a ‘Russian Chapel’ in Wiesbaden to honour is wife and daughter. (More on that in one of our future editions of Luxarazzi 101.) In the following years Adolph wasn't interested in remarriage.

Even though Adolph was considered conservative and reactionary, he was the first sovereign to address his subjects during the 1848 revolutions in the German states. On 4 March, about 30,000 men, one third of the Duchy's male population, gathered in front of the Stadtschloss in Wiesbaden and demanded to see Duke Adolph who subsequently granted them civil rights. In the following years, a few progressive laws were introduced though later taken back.

Adelheid-Marie
In 1850, Adolph met Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (1833 – 1916) for the first time and the couple was married on April 23, 1851 in Dessau. The new Duchess was very interested in the Fine Arts and many of her paintings are still in the ownership of the Grand Ducal Family, hanging in the Château de Berg but also in some of the former Ducal Castles in Hesse.

On April 22nd 1852 the couple welcomed their first son, Wilhelm Alexander. In 1854, 1857, 1859 and 1864 four more children were born two of whom died as infants.

The next decade was characterized by peace and happiness in the Duchy and Adolph celebrated his silver jubilee in 1864. At the time he and his wife were quite popular among their citizens but two years later the Prussian-Austrian war changed the political landscape in Germany. Adolph had sided with the Austrian rulers but Prussia won the war and thus the Duchy of Nassau became a dependent part of it. As a result Adolph had to abdicate.

The family left Nassau to move to Rumpenheim Castle (Kassel, Hesse) before leaving to Austria. A contract between the state of Prussia and Adolph saved his estates in Nassau as private property but, apart from occasional stints at Königstein, he never returned to Nassau to live there again. In addition, he was granted 15 million guilder in Prussian securities. In 1870 the family bought Schloss Hohenburg in Bavaria which became the permanent residence of the former Ducal Family for the next 20 years.

After 24 years of ‘unemployment’ and amusement the family’s life changed again. After the death of King Willem III of the Netherlands, who was also Grand-Duke of Luxembourg, the Ottonian-line of the Nassau family had no male heirs. Willem’s only surviving child was from his second marriage to Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, a niece of Adolph. Their surviving child later became Queen Wilhelmina. While the succession rights in the Netherlands allowed females to become Queen, the laws in Luxembourg were different: only males could inherit the throne. As a result the Luxembourgish throne fell to the older Walramian-line of the House of Nassau and thus Adolph became Grand Duke of Luxembourg on November 23, 1890.

Upon his arrival to Luxembourg, his new citizens were shocked.What had happened? The new Grand Duke Adolph had chosen to wear his old Nassau uniform including a spiked helmet which heavily resembled the Prussian attire. Apart from this little mishap, his arrival was met with a overwhelmingly positive reponse from both the press as well as the public and the always considerate Adolph never wore his Nassau uniform again.

Adolph hunting
One of Adolph’s first actions as Grand Duke was to sell his private properties and castles. In Königstein he sold some private houses but remained the owner of the castle. He sold the Villa Nassau located in Frankfurt. At Hohenburg he sold the manor but remained the owner of the castle. Wiesbaden's Palais Pauline and Vienna's Palais Nassau were also sold. These sales financed Adolph's purchase of the privately owned Luxembourgish properties of Willem III including the Grünewald, the Château de Berg and the Château de Fischbach. The latter one is still owned by the Grand Ducal Family while the others have been (at least) partly sold to the state.

Although the people of Luxembourg were happy about the total independence from the Netherlands, Adolph did not fulfill all their wishes as he never lived permanently in Luxembourg. During most of his reign he lived at Schloss Hohenburg and just spent the summer months in Luxembourg. Only in 1895 did Hereditary Grand Duke Wilhelm (Guillaume) and his growing family move to the renovated and expanded Palais grand-ducal in Luxembourg City.

In contrast to his early years when reigning in the Duchy of Nassau, Adolph decided not to involve himself in politics and left the decisions largely to prime minister Paul Eyschen. In 1902, he appointed his son and heir as his regent.

During the last years of his life, Adolph was partly confined to a wheelchair. In early November 1905, he suffered a qualm yet recovered a little in the following days and was able to smoke his beloved Havana cigars again but on November 17, 1905 Grand Duke Adolph died at Schloss Hohenburg at the age of 88. He was buried in the Castle Chapel of Schloss Weilburg like all protestant members of the house of Nassau-Weilburg.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Schloss Vaduz

Schloss Vaduz is a medieval castle perched up on a hill about 120 metres above Liechtenstein's capital by the same name. In former times also known as Schloss Hohenliechtenstein, it is owned by the Princely Family who made it their official residence about 65 years ago.
Post card of the castle
No one knows exactly just how old Liechtenstein's most famous landmark is, but its history surely reaches far back. It is believed that the first parts of the castle were built in the 12th century to replace the destroyed Burg Schalun, the ruin of which is also known as Wildschloss today. The Bergfried, a tall tower typically found in medieval castles in German-speaking countries, is said to be the most ancient part of the castle. Measuring 12 by 13 metres, the walls of the Bergfried are up to four metres thick. The year of construction of the residential tower, which was added a few years afterwards, can be dated to the year 1287 thanks to dendrochronology. In the following decades, more parts were added to the castle. Its original entrance on the courtyard side is eleven metres high.

The first presumed owners and thus also builders of Schloss Vaduz were the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. Firstly mentioned in 1322, the castle, its surrounding buildings and the tree gardens as well as the people of Triesen and Vaduz were pledged to Ulrich von Matsch for 400 mark silver that year. In 1338, Ulrich von Montfort received the castle as a retirement cottage - or whatever Leibgedinge exactly means in English - on the agreement of the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans and Count Friedrich V of Toggenburg.

The inner-courtyard during the 1980's
(Photo: EinTracht)
A few years later, on 3 May 1342 to be exact, a partition treaty between the sons of Count Rudolf II of Werdenberg-Sargans took effect. His son Hartmann III received the castle above Vaduz and its surroundings as well as a few other neglectable - for the sake of this post at least - properties. His family branch subsequently became known as the Werdenberg-Sargans-Vaduz, as he made the castle his main residence.

In July 1396, Wenzeslaus IV - or Wenceslas, or Wenzel, or Václav, depending on which language you prefer - of Bohemia, of the House of Luxembourg - yes, that did exist in medieval times - and German King since 1376, elevated Vaduz, together with the demesne of Schellenberg, to the rank of a county. The likely delight, however, was of short duration as the Werdenberg-Sargans-Vaduz family had to pledge the castle to the barons of Brandis later that same year. When Hartmann IV, the last member of the Vaduz branch, died in 1416, the Brandis' took full possession of the castle.

During the Swabian War of 1499, the castle's owner, Ludwig of Brandis, had sided with the wrong side, in this case the Holy Roman Empire, and Swiss troops set fire to the castle which was badly damaged. Even though only provisional repairs had been made, the Brandis family was forced to keep the castle available to Emperor Maximilian I at all times, but already in 1510 Johannes of Brandis sold Schellenberg and Vaduz to his nephew Count Rudolf of Sulz, who had to pay 12,000 gulden plus outstanding debts.

Photo: Wandersite
It was Count Rudolf who rebuilt the damaged castle with  financial help from the Emperor. He also added new parts, most notably two round bastions with walls measuring up to five metres. The entry to the castle still in use today also dates back to the days of Count Rudolf.

In 1613, Count Kaspar of Hohenems bought both Vaduz and Schellenberg for 200,000 gulden - quite a rate of price increases I'd say though I certainly am no expert on medieval real estate. It was the Hohenems family who made a few slight changes to the Western façade.

By the end of the century, the Hohenems family had run into deep financial trouble. Already in 1699, the Hohenems had sold the demesne of Schellenberg to a certain Prince Hans-Adam I of Liechtenstein. Thirteen years later, Count Jakob Hannibal III of Hohenems also sold Vaduz to the princes of Liechtenstein and thus the castle came into their possession.

The Liechtenstein's only had taken interest in the remote territories because they brought Reichsunmittelbarkeit with them. In 1719, Emperor Karl VI decreed that Vaduz and Schellenberg were to be united and elevated to the rank of a principality. (For more on the matter, and why the Liechtenstein's wanted to be reichsunmittelbar so badly, have a look at our 101 about the House and Princely Family of Liechtenstein.)

Castle insides during the 1980's
(Photo: EinTracht)
If you either just checked or still remember - an A+ for you - you know that the princes of Liechtenstein did not bother to visit their principality by the same name for a loooong time. Overloards, so-called Vögte, lived in the castle for a few years and during the French revolution it was plundered by invading French troops.

In the following years, the usage the building was diverse to say the least. The castle was used as a vine cellar, as quarters for attendants and as barracks. In 1860, a castle tavern was even opened. At the same time, there were also plans to convert Schloss Hohenliechtenstein, as it was known at the time, into a neo-gothic castle though they were never carried out. Only small renovations were made to the landmark and thus the castle subsequently fell into ruins until Prince Johann II plucked up the courage and a lot of money to make the necessary renovations.

Between 1905 and 1912, the castle was thorougly renovated and restored under the supervision of Franz von Wieser of Innsbruck and Alois Gstrein of Brixen. Even though there had been suggestions to give the castle a romantic makeover, it was decided to preserve its original architecture and only small changes were made. For example, the height of the Bergfried was increased by four metres and got a new kind of roof. While the exterior remains that of a medieval castle, the interior is rather modern, or as modern as a royal residence usually is.

Even though the Princely Family had started to regularly spent time in the Principality a few years before that, it was Prince Franz Joseph II, father of the current sovereign prince, who made Schloss Vaduz the family's primary residence in 1938 after the Anschluss of Austria.

The official Staatsfeiertag celebrations
on the castle meadow
(Photo: Ingrid Delacher/IKR)
In the following years, he had renovations done to make the castle more homely. Maintenance work has been done ever since; a few years ago, one could spot a construction crane at the castle for a while. Apparently, it is, however, still kind of hard to heat up the rooms in winter; basically what one would expect of a medieval castle.

Nevertheless, Schloss Vaduz with its about 130 rooms remains the primary residence of the Princely Family. The castle is divided into different apartments; one of the occupied by the Princely Couple and another one by the Hereditary Princely Couple and their children. Of course there are also official parts used for receptions and such as well as the bureaus of the family. As it is the private property and home of the family, the castle is closed for the public.

The closest you will probably ever get to it is on National Day, or Staatsfeiertag as the Liechtensteiners call it. The castle meadow offers the backdrop for the official celebrations and afterwards the family invites everyone who wants to into the castle gardens to mingle with them and have a few drinks.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Summer Reading and Welcome Additions

As most of our attentive readers have probably already noticed, the activity of the blog has already calmed down considerably since the beginning of this month due to a lack of official appearances of members of the Grand Ducal and Princely Families. (Thank goodness for that because June was one of our most busy months ever with more than 60 posts!) Experience has taught us that the pace won't pick up again until sometime at the end of August to mid-September. 

So to bridge this summer low, we have come up with a reading list for you. You don't need to worry though as there is no need to buy piles of books and there certainly won't be any exams to test your knowledge afterwards. Instead, during the last weeks and months, we, your usual bloggers at Luxarazzi plus a few new additions to the team, have been researching and writing posts on a variety of topics, which we will publish in the weeks to come.

Some of the topics will be additions to our already existing Luxarazzi 101 categories, others will introduce new categories. In the months to come, we will be talking about historical members of the Grand Ducal Family and trace their (still existent) Nassau roots, learn about more family bling as well as the stunning properties of the Princely Family both at home and abroad. In addition, we might surprise you with posts on a number of other topics. If there is anything you are especially interested in, you drop us a line via e-mail or the other 15 ways to contact us.

As already mentioned, there have been new additions to our blogging team which we would like to warmly welcome and thank for their already written and upcoming contributions! Villmols Merci, you are awesome!

So make sure to regularly check our blog in the weeks and months to come, in order to learn more about the Grand Ducal and Princely Families, both past and present. Here's hoping that you'll enjoy the post as much as we had researching and writing them. Seriously, we learned so much about the families in the process... 

Did you know that Prince Felix - Grand Duchess Charlotte's husband that is - once saved the life of Blessed Emperor Karl? Or that the Charlotte and Felix might have never married if the plans of her marrying the last Crown Prince of Saxony had went through? More about that and much more in due time. 

Until then yours truly, 
the team of Luxarazzi.

Grand Duke to Announce New Elections

In case you are following any news related to the Grand Duchy apart from the Grand Ducal Family, you are probaby all too aware that Luxembourg's government has been in crisis for a few weeks now. A while ago, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess alongside the minister for foreign affairs and the economy even cancelled a trade mission to Switzerland due to censure motions against one minister in particular and the government in general.

All the problems are related to the scandals surrounding Luxembourg's secret service and  Bommeleeër case. In addition to the already discussed illegal wire-tapping, there have also been allegations of corruption and even a dodgy trade in luxury cars for private gain within the SREL as well as the existence of 13,000 secret files on people and businesses.

Prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker was accused of being responsible for the mismanagement of the Luxembourg secret service during his time as head of the government and also often omitting to inform the parliamentary control committee or the judiciary of its irregularities, aberrations and illegalities. The prime minister has denied those claims and had no intentions of resigning himself.
After hours of parliamentary debates yesterday and the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), one of the coalition parties, withdrawing their trust from prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), the prime minister had announced to ask the Grand Duke as head of state for new elections.

In the early afternoon hours of today, Juncker made his announcement come true when he made the very short way to the palais grand-ducal to meet with Grand Duke Henri and ask him for the dissolution of the parliament. The Grand Duke has not made a decision yet but asked for time to consider.  He is expected to conduct a series of consultation with representatives of Luxembourg's parties before announcing new elections.

The Luxembourgish constitution states that within 90 days after the dissolution of the parliament, there need to be new elections. At the moment, it seems most likely that the parliament will be dissolved on October 8 and elections conducted twelve days later. Until then, the government will stay intact but is unable to pass laws or make any other decisions which necessitate a vote in the Chamber of Deputies. Prime minister Juncker has already been nominated as his party's leading candidate during the evening hours.


Sources: Wort

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The State in the Third Millenium

Photo: Carl-Christian Jancke / Youtube
Late last month, Prince Hans-Adam II visited Göttingen in Germany for the Hayek-Tage organised by the Friedrich A. von Hayek-Gesellschaft e.V., a society of advocates of the theories of Austrian-British economist Friedrich August von Hayek who was a classical liberalist.

During his speech and a subsequent round of question, which are both viewable on Youtube, Liechtenstein's head of state talked about the state in the third millenium - a topic about which he has written a book - and the things, in his opinion, a state and society should do to further the people's well-being. He also briefly talked about matters of illegal money and tax evasion.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

New York, New York *

Photo: MECE / Cour grand-ducale
Originally scheduled for 30 October 2012 and supposed to be attended by Prince Félix as a stand-in for his honeymooning older brother, the Luxembourg-American Business Award had to be cancelled last year due to Hurricane Sandy hitting New York City on precisely that day. A few months later, the event finally took place at the University Club in New York last night.

This time around, the Hereditary Grand Duke himself as well as his lovely wife, the Hereditary Grand Duchess, were on hand to hand out the award to the Airtech Advanced Materials Group during the black tie dinner hosted by the Luxembourg-American Chamber of Commerce. Since 1999, the award is presented every two years to recognise special and longstanding relationships between a North-American corporation and Luxembourg.

On a sidenote, the Hereditary Grand Duchess' gown looks strikingly similiar to one worn by her mother-in-law a few years ago, assuring us that the clothes sharing within the Grand Ducal Family goes on.

Having already made their way over the big pond, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie also used the chance to meet up with representatives of the Luxembourgish expatriate community in the United States on Wednesday night.

Wort in German, Wort in French and Wort in English all have articles about the visit, the LACC a gallery of visuals.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Open Palace With a Special Surprise

Photo: Cour grand-ducale
Same procedure as every year... Once again the Grand Ducal Family is opening the doors of the palais grand-ducal to the general public while they are on holiday in the south of France and around the world. In addition to be able to see the stunning interiors of the official residence of the Grand Duke, there is a special treat this year - the Elie Saab wedding gown of the Hereditary Grand Duchess is on display in one of the rooms.

The palais will be open between 15 July and 31 August, on all days of the week apart from Wednesdays. In not the most surprising move of the week in the multi-lingual Grand Duchy, the tours are offered in Luxembourgish, French, German, English and Dutch. Adults pay seven euros, children half of that. As it has become a tradition, all profits go to the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grand-Duchesse. (More information can be found on the website of the Luxembourg City Tourist Office.)

Before the official opening to the general public, Luxembourgish school classes were allowed to visit the palais and RTL has accompanied one of them (starting at 16:30). The cour grand-ducale also has a bunch of pictures of the young visitors exploring the Grand Duke's official residence.


Source: Cour grand-ducale

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Charities to Benefit from the Wedding of Félix and Claire

For decades it has been the custom for royal couples to request that their friends, family and general well wishers make donations to charity in lieu of gifts. Prince Félix and his lovely Claire are continuing this custom.

The princely couple have designated two charities who they hope will benefit from their request for donations in lieu of gifts. While one of the beneficiaries is a Luxembourgish charity, the other one operates in Germany, Claire Lademacher's country of birth.

Out of many possible options, she and Prince Felix chose the Initiative Liewensufan, a pregnancy, childbirth and parenting centre in the Grand Duchy whose aim it is to to improve circumstances in which women give birth by providing prospective and new parents with information and support. For more information have a look at their website.

The other chosen charity is the Björn Schulz Stiftung from Germany. The foundation helps families who have children who suffer from cancer or chronic illnesses as well as children, teenagers and young adults until the age of 35 with hardly healable or incurable illnesses. Again, more information is available on their website.

In case you would like to make a donation to one of those charities, the cour grand-ducale provides guidance on how to do so.


Source: Cour grand-ducale

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Visiting Clervaux

Photo: RTL
On their tour of the Grand Duchy's 15 Centre de Développement et d'Attraction (CDA), Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie visited Clervaux in the north of the country yesterday. The couple has previously visited Mersch, Vianden, Echternach, RedangeDudelange and Esch-sur-Alzette.

Stéphanie's and Guillaume's visit, however, did not start in Clervaux initially but Marnach nearby. There, the couple was welcomed by ministers Octavie Modert, Marco Schank and Martine Hansen as well as mayor Emile Eicher before visiting the Cube 521. At the cultural venue they viewed the exhibition "Aspects de l'art ardennais 1806-2013".

Afterwards, they made their way to Clervaux. On their way they also saw and learned about the wind farm in Heinerscheid, the Château d'Urspelt and the school and sports centre in as well as the history of Reuler, a village in the commune of Clervaux.

At the actual destination of their visit, the Hereditary Grand Duke and the beautiful-looking Hereditary Grand Duchess were welcomed by crowds of people when they walked through the town to the central market square. Subsequently, a few minor items on the agenda, such as a musical interlude by the pupil of the local primary school, were then crossed of the list.

Their time in Clervaux ended with a visit to the local castle where they reopened and toured the "The Family of Man" exhibition by the late Luxembourgish-born American photographer Edward Steichen. Interesting side fact: between 1631 and 1856 the Château de Clervaux was owned by a branch of the Lannoy family so for Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie it was also a tour into her family's history.

Pictures can be found at RTL, Wort in German, Wort in French, Wort in English and Tageblatt.


Source: CGD, Wort

Friday, July 5, 2013

What They've Been Up To

Photo: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt
Almost a week of no news blogging later, it's time for us to catch up on what the Luxembourg and Liechtenstein families have been up to during the last couple of days.

In music news... The musical school in Schaan, Liechtenstein's biggest municipality, celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend. Among the 3000 guests at the event was no other than the Princess Marie herself. A video of the event is located at Volksblatt.

In church and state news... You might remember that Prince Nikolaus recently participated in a discussion forum about the seperation of church and state in Liechtenstein, 1 FL TV now has a lengthy video about the event including the speech of the country's non-resident ambassador to the Holy See.

In audience news... On 2 July, Grand Duke Henri welcomed Oleg Betin, the governor of Tambov Oblast in Russia, at the palais. A picture of the two gentlemen can be found on the website of the cour.

In Olympic news... A day later, Grand Duke Henri and Princess Nora, both members of the International Olympic Committee, assisted at the extraordinary IOC session in Lausanne, Switzerland, which lasted two days. More information on why they met and such is located on the website of the IOC.
Photo: Tania Feller / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
In garden party news... On Wedneyday, archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich invited the homeless to the his home for a garden party including food, music and fun. Besides a bunch of politicians, Prince Louis and Princess Tessy were among the guests and even brought along their sons, Gabriel and Noah - both nice to see them out and about and supporting such a worthy cause. More pictures are available at Wort in German, Wort in French and Wort in English; a video at RTL.

In other news... The Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess visited Clerveaux today but we're going to have a seperate post for that as soon as more pictures, videos and such roll in.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Wedding of Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie

Tomorrow, Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary which opens us the chance to have a look at their engagement, nuptials and celebrations surrounding it.
Photo: Fürstenhaus / Corbis
When the Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein announced the engagement of their oldest son, Hereditary Prince Alois Philipp Maria, with Duchess Sophie Elisabeth Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria on 12 January 1993, it was a match made in noble heaven. He, the heir to the last remnant of the Holy Roman Empire, and she, the great-great-granddaughter of the last Bavarian king, Ludwig III. Consequently, their wedding was a very royal affair, however, combined with the Liechtenstein tradition of heavily involving the whole population.

Not too much is known about the couple's relationship before they tied the knot. The couple, simply known as Sophie and Louis to family and friends, had firstly met seven years earlier at the birthday party of a mutual friend. At the time of their engagement, Duchess Sophie lived in Southern Bavaria and Hereditary Prince Alois in Salzburg, Austria, where he was attending university. Their engagement, which was sealed with a ring made of a sapphire and two diamonds, was announced by the groom's parents via the press office of the government on 12 January and already a day later, the future Hereditary Princess was introduced to Liechtenstein officials during the traditional New Year's reception at Schloss Vaduz.
Photo: Seeger Press
Appropriately, their wedding celebrations kicked off in very royal fashion with a reception at Schloss Nymphenburg on 25 June. The Baroque palace is located in Munich and was the main summer residence of the Royal Family of Bavaria before the end of the monarchy in 1918. Today, it is owned by the state of Bavaria but the Wittelsbach family still have apartments at the palace; the former ruling family of Bavaria probably got (one of) the best deal(s) of all ousted German families...

Anyway, the reception hosted by Sophie's grandfather, the Duke of Bavaria - we might want to talk about the 'in Bavaria' and 'of Bavaria' matter at a later date - wasn't your usual kind of reception but a reception including gowns and tiaras, also known as my favourite kind of event. While the fashion was very 90's (the bride-to-be was wearing Jacques Fath) and not much to talk about, I can tell you that Sophie is wearing a diamond floral tiara of the Bavarian collection, her mother Duchess Elizabeth is sporting a diamond and pearl tiara and her future mother-in-law, Princess Marie, the Kinsky Palmette Tiara.

Their very illustrous guest list included the who is who of German-speaking royal- and nobility, family, friends and relatives as well as representatives of the church, economy, politics - including the then prime minister of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber - science, art and culture.

A day later, they had yet another ball, alas without tiaras and hosted at Schloss Vaduz in Liechtenstein, where they welcomed official representatives of the Swiss cantons St Gallen and Graubünden as well as the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Again, numerous representatives of politics, church, culture and economy as well as all consular and diplomatic corps were invited, as were former teachers and school friends of the Hereditary Prince.

On 27 June, the municipalities of Liechtenstein organised a celebration including a field mass in Bendern and two days later another reception was held. On 1 July, a bridal soirée for friends and family was held and on the 2nd an exhibition about the Wittelsbach family was opened at the Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum. In the evening, the Bavarian State Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel played a tribute concert with pieces of Mozart and Schumann in Vaduz with all profits going to the Liechtenstein Red Cross.

Generally, the couple had ask the people to make donations to the victims for the ongoing war in former Yugoslavia, especially for child victims in Zagreb, instead of giving them presents. Contributors included the Liechtenstein government which made a donation of 500,000 Swiss francs.
Photo: Fürstenhaus
And then the big day finally arrived. In the morning of 3 July, people gathered in front of the cathedral St Florin in Vaduz to view the arrival of the royal guests, which included Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte as well as Hereditary Grand Duke Henri and Hereditary Grand Duchess Maria Teresa from Luxembourg as well as Prince Rainier of Monaco plus representatives of the reigning families of Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. (The Liechtenstein's traditionally have close to no ties to the Skandinavian families and only rarely attend their events.)

All in all there were about 500 guests of which only 370 found a spot in the cathedral while the rest had to watch Vaduzer-Saal while the average Liechtensteiner could watch it in a large tent located in the city centre or simply from home.
Photos: Corbis
The members of the Liechtenstein and Bavarian families processed by foot from the nearby government building to St Florin. Hereditary Prince Alois was accompanied by his mother, Princess Marie, and Duchess Sophie was led up the stairs and to the altar by her father, Duke Max in Bavaria.

The bride wore a dress made of Duchesse satin made by Atelier Lissy-Wiwa of Wildenwart, a tiny village in Bavaria where Sophie had spent part of her life. The four to five metre long train had it's greatest effect while walking up and down the stairs in front of the cathedral though I imagine that it must have been quite a challenge despite the carrying aids for the train bearers.

Duchess Sophie's veil was made out of ancient Brussels lace which had been refurbished in Belgium prior to the wedding. She anchored her veil with the Douglas floral tiara belonging to her mother's family, who is a born Countess Douglas, which has also been worn by three of Duchess Sophie's sisters at their weddings. Made in France in the late 19th century, the tiara consists of diamonds set in silver.
Photos: Corbis
The wedding was celebrated by the bishop of Chur Wolfgang Haas, dean Hans Baumann, Vaduz priest Franz Näscher, Father Ferdinand Kinsky and Father Christoph Neipperg, the latter two - in case you hadn't noticed - are of very noble descent.

The armada of bridal children included the Hereditary Prince's cousins Princess Maria-Anunciata and Princess Marie-Astrid, daughters of Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha, and their cousins princes Guillaume, Felix and Louis of Luxembourg as well as 22 girls from the eleven municipalities of Liechtenstein.

While Hereditary Prince Alois chose his sister Princess Tatjana, cousin Count Franz Kinsky and Count Friedrich of Nostitz-Rieneck, Duchess Sophie opted for her sister Duchess Marie-Caroline in Württemberg as well as the Hereditary Count and Countess of Waldburg-Zeil as her witnesses. Other family members were also incorporated in the church service.

The music used for the wedding service was written by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, a nod to both Liechtenstein and Bavaria as the the Liechtenstein-born Rheinberger was the court conductor of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
Photo: Historischer Verein für das Fürstentum Liechtenstein / Corbis
After the wedding service, which took about one and a half hours, the newly-wed couple left the church and the wedding party proceeded back to the government building from where they went, via car and a tour through Vaduz, back to the castle where a lunch for about 100 guests was hosted. But the celebrations were far from over.

Following the official celebrations came the part which would classify as typically Liechtenstein where a Princely wedding always includes a public festival for the entire population. Under the slogan "Europe in Liechtenstein" a fun fair was held in the Städtle of Vaduz. In the afternoon hours, the Hereditary Princely Couple visited the festival to receive congratulations and small gifts by the people of Liechtenstein. The newly weds also paid a visit to the local retirement home. 

In the evening, a torchlight procession from the castle to the Städtle consisting of the newly-weds, scouts, music and national costume groups was held. The night cumulated in a 30 minutes fireworks display over Schloss Vaduz.