Vaduz Cathedral , or Cathedral of St. Florin ( German : St. Florinskirche in Vaduz or Kathedrale St. Florin ), is a neo-Gothic church in Vaduz , Liechtenstein , and the centre of the Archdiocese of Vaduz . Originally a parish church , it has held the status of cathedral since 1997.
26-424: The Prince Princess Marie Christine Princess Amalie Princess Josephine Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein (Alois Philipp Maria; born 11 June 1968) is the eldest son of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein , and Countess Marie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau , and the heir apparent to the throne of Liechtenstein . Alois has been regent of the country since 15 August 2004, while his father remains
52-542: A Sourcebook, on Self-Determination and Self-Administration , which was edited by Wolfgang F. Danspeckgruber and Arthur Watts ( ISBN 1-55587-786-9 , 1997), and in the Encyclopedia Princetoniensis . In an interview with Radio Liechtenstein in February 2021, Prince Hans-Adam II expressed his support for same-sex marriage but said he opposed allowing same-sex couples to adopt. The official title of
78-428: A July 2012 referendum , the people of Liechtenstein overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to curtail the political power of the princely family. A few days before the vote, Hereditary Prince Alois announced he would veto any relaxing of the ban on abortion , also up for referendum. 76 per cent of those voting in the first referendum supported Alois' power to veto the outcome of future referendums. Legislators, who serve on
104-975: A family foundation, the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation , from which each family member receives an equal annual allowance and which maintains the family's castles, cultural assets, collections and museums and last but not least, the costs of the princely court including even some salaries for princes who are ambassadors abroad, which are not a burden on the taxpayer. On 3 July 1993 at St. Florin's Cathedral in Vaduz, Alois married Duchess Sophie in Bavaria , now also Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein and Countess of Rietberg. They have four children: Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein Hans-Adam II (Johannes Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marco d'Aviano Pius; born 14 February 1945)
130-413: A part-time basis, rose in the hereditary prince's defence on 23 May, voting 18 to 7 against the citizens' initiative. Before his accession to the throne, he transformed LGT Bank which is wholly owned by his family, from a small local bank into an internationally operating financial group. As of 2003 he had a family fortune of US$ 7.6 billion and a personal fortune of about US$ 4 billion, making him one of
156-462: A small set of tasks and abilities, writing that people "have to free the state from all the unnecessary tasks and burdens with which it has been loaded during the last hundred years, which have distracted it from its two main tasks: maintenance of the rule of law and foreign policy". Hans-Adam is a friend of the German anarcho-capitalist economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe . Hans-Adam wrote to the foreword to
182-496: A veto was not necessary, however, as the voters rejected the proposal. Following the prince's threat, an initiative called " Damit deine Stimme zählt " ("So that your voice counts") was launched to change the constitution of Liechtenstein to prevent the prince from vetoing legislation approved in referendums. The referendum was held on 1 July 2012, and 76% of voters upheld the prince's power to veto referendum results. On 11 August 2022, Prince Alois said that same-sex marriage
208-605: Is Florinus of Remüs (Florin), a 9th-century saint of the Vinschgau Valley . The Archdiocese of Vaduz was erected by Pope John Paul II on 2 December 1997. Before then it had been the Liechtenstein Deanery, a part of the Swiss Diocese of Chur . The solemn public ceremony took place on December 12, 1997, in the parish church of Vaduz, which was then raised to the dignity of a cathedral . The Princely Crypt of
234-697: Is "not a major problem". In a speech made in August 2024, he supported Liechtenstein's accession to the International Monetary Fund . Alois is set to inherit an extensive art collection, much of which is displayed for the public at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. As of July 2022, his father's net worth was estimated by Bloomberg Billionaires Index around US$ 6.20 billion, making him the 380th richest person on earth. However, he placed these assets in
260-537: Is the Prince of Liechtenstein . He is the son of Prince Franz Joseph II and his wife, Countess Georgina von Wilczek . He also bears the titles Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf , and Count of Rietberg . Under his reign, a 2003 constitutional referendum expanded the powers of the Prince of Liechtenstein. In 2004, Hans-Adam transferred day-to-day governmental duties to his eldest son Hereditary Prince Alois as regent , like his father had granted him in 1984 to prepare him for
286-676: The Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins in Vaduz. He is also a former member of the Viennese Scout Group " Wien 16-Schotten ". He is a member of the World Scout Foundation . His younger son Prince Constantin died on 5 December 2023 at the age of 51. Hans-Adam has written the political treatise The State in the Third Millennium ( ISBN 9783905881042 ), which was published in late 2009. In it, he argues for
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#1733084902675312-872: The Schottengymnasium in Vienna . In 1960, he transferred to the Lyceum Alpinium Zuoz in Switzerland , earning a Swiss Matura and a German Abitur in 1965. He then worked as a bank trainee in London before enrolling at the University of St. Gallen to study business administration , graduating with a licentiate in 1969. He is fluent in English and French in addition to his native German . In 1984, Prince Franz Joseph II, while legally remaining head of state and retaining
338-465: The University of Salzburg , from which he earned a master's degree in jurisprudence in 1993. Until 1996, Alois worked at a firm of chartered accountants in London. In May of that year, he returned to Vaduz and became active in managing the princely families' finances. In the 2003 Liechtenstein constitutional referendum , Alois and his father Hans-Adam II pushed for constitutional amendment that granted
364-528: The age of 81. The Prince is an honorary member of K.D.St.V. Nordgau Prag Stuttgart, a Catholic students' fraternity that is a member of the Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities . The Prince donated $ 12 million in 2000 to found the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University 's Princeton School of Public and International Affairs . In his childhood he joined
390-409: The continued importance of the nation-state as a political actor. He makes the case for democracy as the best form of government, which he sees China and Russia as in transition towards, although the path will be difficult for these nations. He also declared his role in a princely family as something that has legitimacy only from the assent of the people. He stated that government should be limited to
416-418: The country if the referendum did not result in his favour. On 15 August 2004, Hans-Adam formally handed the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions to his eldest son Hereditary Prince Alois as regent , as a way of beginning a dynastic transition to a new generation. Legally, Hans-Adam remains the head of state . Hans-Adam's father Franz Joseph II had similarly done so on 26 August 1984. In
442-461: The country. The initiative was supported by Roman Catholic Archbishop Wolfgang Haas . Alois was initially sympathetic to the proposal, but he became neutral during the run-up to the vote. Instead, a government-sponsored counter proposal was ratified. In 2011, Alois announced he would veto any relaxing of the ban on abortion in Liechtenstein, which was an subject for referendum later that year. Such
468-539: The family's castles, cultural assets, collections and museums and last but not least, the costs of the princely court including even some salaries for princes who are ambassadors abroad, which are not a burden on the taxpayer. His successful entrepreneurship allowed him to buy back parts of the family art collection which his father had to sell after World War II due to lack of money after his vast land holdings in Czechoslovakia had been expropriated (measuring 7.5 times
494-471: The monarch is "Prince of Liechtenstein, Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf , Count of Rietberg , Sovereign of the House of Liechtenstein" ( German : Fürst von und zu Liechtenstein, Herzog von Troppau und Jägerndorf, Graf zu Rietberg, Regierer des Hauses von und zu Liechtenstein ). Vaduz Cathedral It was built in 1874 by Friedrich von Schmidt on the site of earlier medieval foundations. Its patron saint
520-575: The most important being the American company RiceTec . He also inherited an extensive art collection, much of which is displayed for the public at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. As of July 2022, his net worth was estimated by Bloomberg Billionaires Index around US$ 6.20 billion, making him the 380th richest person on earth. However, he placed these assets in a family foundation, the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation , from which each family member receives an equal annual allowance and which maintains
546-920: The official head of state. He also holds the title of Count of Rietberg . He is married to Duchess Sophie in Bavaria , who is a member of the House of Wittelsbach , and second in line for the Jacobite succession . Alois attended the Liechtenstein Grammar School in Ebenholz (Vaduz) and then the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom . He served in the Coldstream Guards in Hong Kong and London for six months before entering
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#1733084902675572-553: The prince sweeping powers (the right to veto laws and elect judges). Hans-Adam had threatened to abdicate the throne and leave the country if it was not successful. However, it was accepted by voters. The next year, on 15 August 2004, Hans-Adam made Alois his regent and turned over the powers of prince to him, though Hans-Adam remains the official head of state, much like his father Franz Joseph II had done for him in 1984. On 27 November 2005, Liechtenstein voters rejected an initiative that would prohibit abortion and birth control in
598-454: The role. He was born on 14 February 1945 in Zürich , Switzerland , as the eldest son of Prince Franz Joseph II and Princess Gina of Liechtenstein , with his godfather being Pope Pius XII . His father had succeeded as Prince of Liechtenstein in 1938 upon the death of his childless grand-uncle, Prince Franz I , and Hans-Adam was thus hereditary prince from birth. In 1956, he entered
624-518: The title of sovereign prince, formally handed the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions to his eldest son as a way of beginning a dynastic transition to a new generation. Hans-Adam formally succeeded as Prince of Liechtenstein upon the death of his father on 13 November 1989. A referendum to adopt Hans-Adam's revision of the Constitution of Liechtenstein to expand his powers passed in 2003. The prince had threatened to abdicate and leave
650-744: The total area of the Principality itself) and after his Austrian properties had become inaccessible until the end of the Soviet occupation in 1955. In addition, he continues to expand the collection of classical paintings and applied arts to this day. The Prince Princess Marie Christine Princess Amalie Princess Josephine On 30 July 1967, at St. Florin's in Vaduz , he married his second cousin once-removed Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau . They have four children and fifteen grandchildren: They remained married until her death on 21 August 2021, at
676-619: The world's richest heads of state, and Europe's wealthiest monarch. He inherited his main residence, Vaduz Castle in Liechtenstein, furthermore in Austria Liechtenstein Castle , Wilfersdorf Castle (with a wine farm), the Liechtenstein Garden Palace and the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna. In addition to real estate, viticulture, agriculture and forestry, the prince owns a number of companies,
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