LIECHTENSTEIN. - A tiny state (159 sq. km.) enclosed between the frontiers of Austria (Vorarlberg) and Switzerland (St. Gallen and Graubünden). Capital Vaduz (2,000 inhabitants). A site of human settlement since the Stone Age, the territory of the present principality of L. was subjected to Roman rule in 15 B.C. and became an important transit zone along the Roman road Chur-Bregenz. Subject to the rule of the Ostrogoths in 493 and of the Franks in 537, while between the 7th and 8th centuries the Alamanni passed through the territory, the various vicissitudes of feudal dependence came to an end in 1396 when the entire territory of plain and mountain, finally united under Count Henry of Vaduz, came to depend directly on the emperor.
When the Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806, L. acquired full sovereignty and, as such, from 1806 to 1814 became part of the Confederation of the Rhine, then passing from 1815 to 1866 into the German Confederation. Once this political body too ceased at Sadowa, L. continued to remain entirely independent, preserving until 1919 the simple customs union with Austria, in existence since 1852. Having remained neutral during both the First and the Second World War, L. has since 1923 been part of the customs territory of Switzerland, which since 1924 has assumed its diplomatic representation. On the basis of the Constitution of 5 October 1921, L. is a hereditary constitutional monarchy in the male line of the princes of L.; the legislative power is represented by a diet of 15 members elected by universal suffrage, while as a form of direct democracy there are the referendum and the right of initiative.
The inhabitants, about 14,000, are 98% Catholic, and the territory of the Principality is part of the diocese of Chur.
Bibliography3 works
Angelo Tamborra