Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein reigned from 1836 – 1858. Born Alois Maria Josef Johann Baptista Joachim Philipp Nerius on May 26, 1796, the feast day of St. Philip Neri, whose name he bears, in Vienna, Austria, he was the third of the fourteen children and the eldest of the seven sons of Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein and Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra. Since Alois’ father Johann Josef was a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and then the Imperial Army of the Austrian Empire, the family spent much time in Vienna, Austria.

Alois had thirteen siblings:

  • Princess Maria Leopoldine of Liechtenstein (1793 – 1808), died in her teens
  • Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein (born and died 1795), died in infancy
  • Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein (1798 – 1869), married Count Vincenz Esterházy von Galántha, no children
  • Princess Maria Josepha of Liechtenstein (1800 – 1884), unmarried
  • Prince Franz de Paula of Liechtenstein (1802 – 1887), married Countess Julia Potocka, had four children. Their great-grandson was Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
  • Prince Karl Johann of Liechtenstein (1803 – 1871), married Countess Rosalie d’Hemricourt von Grünne, had three children
  • Princess Klothilda of Liechtenstein (1804 – 1807), died in childhood
  • Princess Henriette of Liechtenstein (1806 – 1886), married Count Joseph Hunyady von Kethély (link in German), had six children
  • Prince Friedrich of Liechtenstein (link in German) (1807 – 1885), married famous German opera singer Sophie Löwe who left the opera to marry Friedrich, no children
  • Prince Eduard Franz of Liechtenstein (1809 – 1864), married Countess Honoria Choloniowa-Choloniewska, had two children
  • Prince Ludwig of Liechtenstein (1810 – 1824), died in his teens
  • Princess Ida Leopoldine of Liechtenstein (1811 – 1884), married Karl 4th Fürst Paar, Baron auf Hartberg und Krottenstein, had seven children
  • Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein (1816 – 1848), unmarried

Alois’ early education was supervised by the French priest Abbe Werner. As he grew older, specialist tutors instructed him in various disciplines including Leopold Trautmann, professor of agriculture at the University of Vienna, and Friedrich von Schlegel, German literary critic and philosopher. In 1818, Alois took an educational trip to Italy, where he visited famous museums, art galleries, and churches. Two years later, he took another educational trip to England and Scotland.

Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 8, 1831, in Vienna, Austria, Alois married Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, the daughter of Count Franz de Paula Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau and Countess Therese of Wrbna and Freudenthal.

Alois and Franziska had eleven children:

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein in the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Golden Fleece; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his father Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 20, 1836, Alois became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. In 1837, Alois went to the United Kingdom on a diplomatic mission and attended the coronation of Queen Victoria. Like his father and grandfather, Alois continued modernizing his estates and reorganizing their administration. Prince Alois II was the first reigning prince to visit the Principality of Liechtenstein, as we know it today, but he did not live there. Previously and at that time, the Princes of Liechtenstein lived in their palaces in Vienna, Austria, and on their estates in Moravia, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic. Alois’ son Franz I (reigned 1929 – 1938) was the first Prince of Liechtenstein to spend a substantial amount of time in the actual Principality of Liechtenstein.

Alois was politically conservative. In the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848, and at the insistence of the citizens of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Alois gave the principality a more liberal constitution but suspended it in 1852 and returned to a more absolutist government. Alois was active in the Imperial Agricultural Society in Vienna and served as its president from 1849 – 1858. He belonged to a total of 74 humanitarian, scientific, and industrial associations and was extremely generous in his charitable donations.

The New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 62, died on November 12, 1858, at Lednice Castle in Eisgrub, Moravia, Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire, now Lednice, Czech Republic. He was buried in the New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic.

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Works Cited

  • Cs.wikipedia.org. 2021. Alois II. z Lichtenštejna – Wikipedie. [online] Available at: <https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_II._z_Lichten%C5%A1tejna> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Alois II. (Liechtenstein) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_II._(Liechtenstein)> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Aloys II, Prince of Liechtenstein – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloys_II,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/johann-i-josef-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • Fuerstenhaus.li. 2021. Century: 19th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/19-century/> [Accessed 16 December 2021].