Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein was born on August 16, 1662, in Brno, Moravia, now Vranov, Czech Republic. He was the youngest of the nine children and the only surviving son of the four sons of Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein and Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein (circa 1625 – 1676).

Hans-Adam had eight older siblings but only three sisters survived childhood:

  • Princess Eleonora Maria of Liechtenstein (1647 – 1704), married Prince Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, had seven children
  • Princess Anna Maria of Liechtenstein (1648 – 1654), died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein (1649 – 1716), married James Leslie, 2nd Count Leslie of the Holy Roman Empire (his father was a Scottish lord, Alexander Leslie, 14th Baron of Balquhain, 1st Count of the Holy Roman Empire), had one son
  • Princess Johanna Beatrix of Liechtenstein (1650 – 1672), married her second cousin Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein, had two children
  • Prince Franz Dominik Eusebius of Liechtenstein (born and died 1652), died in infancy
  • Prince Karl Joseph of Liechtenstein (born and died 1652), died in infancy
  • Prince Franz Eusebius Wenzel of Liechtenstein (1654 – 1655), died in infancy
  • Princess Cäcilie of Liechtenstein (born and died 1655), died in infancy

Twenty-two-year-old Hans-Adam became Prince of Liechtenstein upon the death of his father Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 5, 1684. Karl Eusebius left his son a rich inheritance and an extensive collection of artworks that were added to by his son and other descendants.

Hans-Adam’s wife and first cousin Erdmuthe; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 16, 1681, in Vienna, Austria, Hans-Adam married his first cousin Princess Erdmuthe Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg.  Hans-Adam and Erdmuthe had eleven children but all their sons predeceased Hans-Adam.

  • A son (born and died 1682)
  • Princess Maria Elisabeth of Liechtenstein (1683 – 1744), Leopold, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg, had five children
  • Karl Josef Wenzel, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein (1684 – 1704), died at age 20
  • Princess Maria Antonia of Liechtenstein (1687 – 1750), married (1) Markus Anton Adam, Count Czobor de Czoborszentmihály, had two children (2) Karl, Count Hrzán of Harras
  • Princess Maria Anna of Liechtenstein (1687 – 1750)
  • Franz Dominik, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein (1689 – 1711), died at age 22
  • Princess Maria Gabriele of Liechtenstein (1692 – 1713), married her third cousin Joseph Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein, had one son who died in early childhood
  • Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein (1694 – 1772), married Emmanuele Tomasso of Savoy-Carignano, Count of Soissons, had one son
  • Princess Maria Margaretha of Liechtenstein (1697 – 1702), died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Dominika of Liechtenstein (1698 – 1724), married Heinrich Joseph Johann, Prince of Auersperg, had three children
  • Prince Johann Baptist of Liechtenstein (born and died 1700)

Hans-Adam acquired the Lordship of Schellenberg in 1699, and the County of Vaduz in 1712 which would later form the present Principality of Liechtenstein (not formally established until 1719). Unlike his predecessors, Hans-Adam did not accept any position with the Imperial Court. He reorganized the administration of his principality and the personal finances of the princely family.

Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna, Austria; Credit – By Thomas Ledl – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35948506

Like his father, Hans-Adam had a great interest in art. He increased the size of the family art collection started by his father by purchasing works by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck and other artists. Hans-Adam also had a reputation as a master builder. Among his buildings were two grand palaces in Vienna, Liechtenstein City Palace, still used as a residence by the princely family, and the Liechtenstein Garden Palace. which is now a museum, the home to part of the private art collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, one of the largest private collections in the world.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Czech Republic. The entrance to the burial crypts can be seen at the rear of the church; Credit – Von Ojin – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438939

Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein died in Vienna, Austria on June 16, 1712, at the age of 49. He was buried in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Brno, Moravia, now Vranov, Czech Republic. Because Hans-Adam had no sons, he had chosen his distant cousin Prince Joseph Wenzel, the great-grandnephew of Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein, even though he was not next in line. The actual heir was his uncle Anton Florian but he was not very popular with the family. At a later date, Anton Florian became Prince of Liechtenstein. Hans-Adam’s wife Erdmuthe survived her husband by twenty-five years, dying on March 16, 1737, in Vienna, Austria at the age of 84. She was buried with her husband.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Adam_I,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2021. Juan Adán Andrés de Liechtenstein – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ad%C3%A1n_Andr%C3%A9s_de_Liechtenstein> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2021. Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-eusebius-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
  • geni_family_tree. 2021. Hans Adam I, III. Prinz von Liechtenstein. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Hans-Adam-I-III-Prinz-von-Liechtenstein/5068583326340113880> [Accessed 21 October 2021].
  • Louda, Jiri and MacLagan, Michael, 2002. Lines of Succession. New York: Barnes and Noble.
  • Princely House of Liechtenstein. 2021. Biographies of all Reigning Princes – 17th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/17-century/> [Accessed 2 October 2021].