Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

The Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein from 1929 – 1938, Franz de Paula Maria Karl August was born at Schloss Liechtenstein near Vienna, Austria on August 28, 1853. He was the second of the two sons and the youngest of the eleven children of Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau.

Franz had one older brother and nine older sisters. The eleven children in Johann’s family spanned 15 years.

Franz studied law at the University of Vienna and the University of Prague and then served in the military. He embarked on a diplomatic career, working as an attaché in the embassy of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in Brussels, Belgium. From 1894 – 1898, Franz served as the ambassador of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to the Russian Empire and maintained a close relationship with Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. Franz did much to try to strengthen the relationship between Austria-Hungary and Russia including helping to establish the Department (later the Institute) of Eastern European History at the University of Vienna.

In 1914, Franz met Elisabeth von Gutmann, the widow of the Hungarian Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva, at a gala for the Relief Fund for Soldiers. Known as Elsa, she was the daughter of Wilhelm Isaak Wolf, Ritter of Gutmann (Ritter means Knight) and his second wife Ida Wodianer. Elsa’s father was a Jewish businessman who founded the largest coal company in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In 1878, he was created a Knight (Ritter) of the Order of the Iron Crown, a hereditary knighthood. He also served as president of the Vienna Israelite Community.

Elsa was raised in the Jewish religion but in January 1899, she converted to Roman Catholicism in preparation for her marriage to Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva. The couple wanted to marry in 1919 but Johann II refused to consent to the marriage because of Elsa’s Jewish background and her lower social status. Elsa and Franz secretly married Elsa in 1919, and that same year, Pope Benedict XV received the couple at the Vatican.

Johann II died on February 11, 1929, and as he was unmarried with no children, his only brother succeeded to the throne as Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein. Now that Franz was the Sovereign Prince, he could officially marry Elsa. On July 22, 1929, Elsa officially became Princess of Liechtenstein when she married Franz at the parish church in the Lainz district of Vienna. Elsa and Franz had no children.

Princess Elsa; Credit – https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en 

Even though they spent time in the princely residences in Austria, Franz and Elsa were the first princely couple to spend a substantial amount of time in Liechtenstein. The couple left to visit Liechtenstein shortly after they married but continued to make regular visits to Liechtenstein until 1935 when Franz’s health would no longer allow visits. Franz and Elsa would visit schools and help sick children and mothers in need. The couple created the Franz and Elsa Foundation for Liechtenstein Children in 1930, which helped poor Liechtenstein children receive an education. The foundation is still in existence today.

Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Franz I’s great-nephew Franz Josef took on various official roles on behalf of his elderly great-uncle. On March 30, 1938, Franz I named Franz Josef regent. Although he cited old age as his reason for the regency, it is widely believed that it was because he had no desire to be ruling if Nazi Germany invaded Liechtenstein.

Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein died at the age of 84 on July 25, 1938, at Valtice, Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic. He was buried in the New Crypt of the Princely Mausoleum on the grounds of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, in Vranov, near Brno, in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic. Because Franz had no children, he was succeeded by his great-nephew, Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Elsa survived her husband by nine years, dying in Vitznau, Switzerland on September 28, 1947, at the age of 72. As the Czechs had seized the property in Vranov where her husband had been buried, it was impossible for Elsa to be buried with Franz. She was originally buried in the Chapel of Our Lady at Dux in Schaan, Liechtenstein but her remains were moved to Vaduz Cathedral in Liechtenstein when the Princely Crypt there was completed.

Princely Mausoleum, Vranov, Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

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Principality of Liechtenstein Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

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  • Fuerstenhaus.li. (2018). Biographies of the Princes and Princesses. [online] Available at: https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en/history/biographies-of-the-princes-and-princesses [Accessed 25 Sep. 2018].
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