10 Strange and Fascinating Truths About Liechtensteiner Society

10 Strange and Fascinating Truths About Liechtensteiner Society

Sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, the Principality of Liechtenstein is a country so small it would fit inside most major cities and often gets mistaken for merely a postage stamp on a map. Yet, this microstate-with a population smaller than that of a mid-sized town-is a place of deep paradoxes and intriguing peculiarities. It is a land where, at the heart of modern Europe, a prince wields real political power; where there are more companies than people; and where ancient traditions exist side by side with a hyper-modern, wealthy economy. To understand Liechtenstein, one must look beyond its size into the complex social fabric of a society that has sought its own unique way. Here are ten aspects of Liechtensteiner society that may seem strange to outsiders but are fundamental to its identity.

#### 1. The Prince's Veto: A Real-Life Fairy-Tale Democracy

While most European monarchs are purely symbolic in the 21st century, Liechtenstein's Prince Hans-Adam II holds significant political power. This is no quirky tradition; it is a fact enshrined in the constitution. He can veto legislation, dissolve the government at will, and appoint judges. More amazingly, in 2003, a national referendum actually *extended* his powers, making him one of the most powerful reigning monarchs in Europe. The weirdness lies in the fact that this extension of powers was democratically endorsed. To Liechtensteiners, the monarchy is not an oppressive force; rather, it is seen as a stabilizing force, efficient, and loved, placing a check on the political class—a fascinating mix of medieval authority with modern direct democracy.

#### 2. A Country You Can Rent - or at Least, Its Mountains

In a story that sounds like the plot of a comedy film, it was reported in 2011 that the ruling prince once said in jest that for $70,000 a night, you could rent the whole country for corporate events, complete with customized street signs and a temporary currency. While the full "rent-a-country" scheme was an exaggerated media stunt, it had a kernel of truth at its core: the Prince's family owns large tracts of land, including the iconic Vaduz Castle and the surrounding mountains. The fact that such a thing could even be imagined-to "rent" a sovereign state for a night-points to the unique, almost personal, relationship between the royal family, the land, and its governance.

#### 3. The "Company Citizen" Phenomenon

Liechtenstein has a population of roughly 39,000 people. Yet it is home to more than 75,000 registered companies-nearly two companies for every citizen. This sets up a surreal social and economic dynamic. The "company citizen" is a central part of Liechtenstein's identity. The nation's phenomenal wealth, giving it one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, is built not on industry or tourism but rather on its status as a financial services and holding company hub. This means that the "society" one interacts with during business hours-lawyers, trustees, and bankers managing global assets-is a separate, parallel layer to the small-village society of families that have lived in the Alps for generations.

#### 4. The Army That Disappeared And Threw a Party

Liechtenstein famously abolished its army in 1868, and it has remained permanently neutral and demilitarized ever since. The strangeness, however, is in the folklore surrounding its final military engagement. The most loved and probably apocryphal story goes that in the 19th century, the 80-man army was sent to guard a mountain pass during a conflict. They returned not with casualties, but with 81 men. They had made a friend along the way-an Italian soldier. To celebrate this bloodless "achievement", the prince decided to disband the army once and for all. Whether true or not, it's a story proudly told and perfectly capturing the Liechtensteiner self-image: peaceful, pragmatic, and with a sense of humor about its own limitations.

#### 5. Direct Democracy at Its Most Granular Level

Switzerland is famous for its referendums, but Liechtenstein carries direct democracy to an even more intimate level: with such a small population, the process is extremely accessible. If only 1,000 citizens (or three communes) sign a petition, a national referendum can be triggered; that means any citizen who can find a determined group of friends and neighbors stands virtually in a position to change the nation's laws or constitution. Political life is not a faraway spectacle on television but a local affair where voters very frequently know their parliament members in person, while the vote of one family can, theoretically, have a measurable impact on the outcome.

#### 6. A National Art Collection Locked in a Cellar The Prince of Liechtenstein has one of the most prestigious private collections in the world, with masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, and van Dyck. The strange thing about this story is that, for decades, the bulk of this inestimable collection was hidden from public view, tucked away in cellars in the family's palaces in Vienna. It was only when the modern Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in Vaduz opened and the family's summer palace in Vienna was restored that the collection properly came into view. That such a huge national treasure should be, until relatively recently, little more than a private secret emphasizes the unusual and very personal nature of the principality's cultural assets. 7. The Passport That's an Invitation from the Prince In most countries, a passport is an official document issued by the state. In Liechtenstein, the text inside a passport reads: "The Principality of Liechtenstein requests and requires in the name of His Serene Highness the Reigning Prince of Liechtenstein all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance." The passport is framed not as a right of citizenship from a republic, but as a personal request from the Prince himself. This small linguistic detail is a powerful reminder of the foundational principle of the state: it is the private domain of the princely house, and its citizens are his subjects. #### 8. The "Himmlisch" Fire Brigade Ritual Liechtenstein keeps alive a rich tapestry of local traditions, and one of the most weirdly charming is the *Himmlisch* ceremony of the fire brigades. On the annual "Fire Brigade Day," a pole called the *Himmlisch* is raised, with a prize attached to the top-most part, often a decorated ham or a bottle of wine. Firefighters then form a human pyramid, a tradition dating back centuries, to retrieve the prize. This ritual combines competition with community solidarity and historical pageantry in an exemplary way, through which life in Liechtenstein can often feel much more like a gathering of interconnected villages than a nation-state. #### 9. A Prison with a View (and a Waiting List) With one of the lowest crime rates in the world, Liechtenstein's prison system is as unique as the country itself. The main prison in Vaduz is a low-security facility that often looks more like a modest dormitory than a penitentiary. The strangeness is twofold: firstly, the prison is so small and the sentences so short that Swiss authorities often have to house Liechtenstein's convicted criminals; secondly, due to its pleasant conditions and focus on rehabilitation, there have been anecdotal reports of petty criminals from neighboring countries attempting to get arrested in Liechtenstein to serve their time there-a bizarre inversion of the usual criminal logic. #### 10. The 300-Year-Old Recipe for National Cohesion It did not spring from a strong national movement, but Liechtenstein was formed in 1719 when the wealthy Austrian family Liechtenstein purchased two minor lordships, Vaduz and Schellenberg, having them elevated to the status of a principality within the Holy Roman Empire, thereby gaining a seat in the powerful Imperial Diet. The strange truth is that the princely family didn't even visit their new country for more than 120 years. The national identity was forged not through ancient tribal bonds, but rather through a slow process of administrative unification under a distant, absentee ruler. Considering such a "purchased" origin story, the deeply ingrained patriotism and cohesion within modern Liechtenstein are, in fact, all the more remarkable. In short, these ten points show that Liechtensteiner society is a fascinating social experiment. It is a place where the lines between a family business and a nation-state, between a village meeting and a national parliament, are beautifully and strangely blurred. The "strangeness" is the logical consequence of a tiny community choosing to navigate the modern world by holding fiercely to its own unique blend of monarchical authority, direct democracy, and a pragmatic, business-minded approach to survival. It testifies to the proposition that a nation's strength is not necessarily in its size but in the peculiar and enduring character of its social contract.