by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021
Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – The Princely House of Liechtenstein
Johann Nepomuk Karl Borromäus Josef Franz de Paula was born on July 8, 1724, in Vienna, Austria. He was the second but the only surviving son of the two sons and the fourth of the five children of Josef Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein and his third wife Maria Anna Katharina, Countess of Oettingen-Spielberg (1693 – 1729).
Johann Nepomuk Karl had had three half-siblings from two of his father’s three other marriages but they all died in infancy. He had four siblings but only his sister Maria Theresia survived childhood:
- Princess Maria Eleonore of Liechtenstein (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
- Prince Joseph Anton of Liechtenstein (1720 – 1723), died in childhood
- Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein (1721 – 1753), married Joseph I Adam, 4th Prince of Schwarzenberg, had nine children
- Princess Maria Elisabeth of Liechtenstein (born and died 1728), died on the day of her birth
Johann Nepomuk Karl as a boy; Credit – Wikipedia
On December 17, 1732, eight-year-old Johann Nepomuk Karl became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein when his 42-year-old father died. The former reigning Prince of Liechtenstein Josef Wenzel I served as regent and guardian for Johann Nepomuk Karl until he reached his majority in 1745. He carefully prepared Johann Nepomuk Karl to take over the business of government. However, when Johann Nepomuk Karl reached the age of 21 and took over the government, it appeared he had not learned anything. He was soon neglecting his government duties.
On March 19, 1744, in Vienna, Austria, Johann Nepomuk Karl married his first cousin Countess Maria Josefa von Harrach-Rohrau, daughter of Count Friedrich August von Harrach-Rohrau and Princess Maria Eleonore of Liechtenstein, daughter of Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein.
Johann Nepomuk Karl and Maria Josefa had three children:
- Princess Maria Anna of Liechtenstein (1745 – 1752), died in childhood
- Prince Joseph Johannes Nepomuk of Liechtenstein (born and died 1747), died in infancy
- Princess Maria Antonia of Liechtenstein (1749 – 1813), born after her father’s death, married Prince Wenzel Chrisostumus von Paar, had ten children
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Czech Republic: Credit – Von Ojin – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438939
On December 22, 1748, Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein died at the age of 24 in Wischau, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. He was buried in the Old Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. Because Johann Nepomuk Karl had no male heir, the former reigning Prince of Liechtenstein Josef Wenzel I once again became the reigning Prince. Maria Josefa survived her husband by forty years dying at the age of 61 on February 15, 1788. She was buried at the Capuchin Church in Roudnice nad Laberm, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, but her tomb has not survived.
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Works Cited
- “Century: 18th Century.” Das Fürstenhaus Von Liechtenstein, https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/18-century/.
- “Johann Nepomuk, Fürst Von Liechtenstein.” geni_family_tree, 24 May 2018, https://www.geni.com/people/Johann-Nepomuk-Fürst-von-Liechtenstein/5062396647720020024.
- “Johann Nepomuk Karl (Liechtenstein).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 July 2020, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Karl_(Liechtenstein).
- “Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Karl,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein.