Liechtenstein, the Principality that Got Away Quiz

Answer: Adriatic Sea

Doubly-landlocked, meaning, you would have to pass over two other countries to reach an open body of water, Liechtenstein shares that distinction with only one other country in the world - Uzbekistan. Surrounded by two landlocked countries, Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein's main body of water is the Rhine River.

Only slightly closer to Venice than it is to Genoa, Liechtenstein is closer to the Adriatic Sea than it is to the Ligurian Sea. Farther still from the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, Liechtenstein is dependent on other countries for its shipping.

Answer: Sale

The princes of Liechtenstein wanted a seat and a say at the Imperial Council of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and the territory of Schellenberg was up for sale. In 1699, the land was sold and occupied by the princes, who gave their name to the land.

As the land was very small, the neighbouring region of Vaduz was bought thirteen years later to quadruple the land area. In 1719, the two regions were officially unified and the principality of Liechtenstein came into existence. According to Walter S.G. Kohn, "the way Liechtenstein came into existence is unique. [...] There were no historic necessities which pressed for the unification of a state and the wishes of the population did not enter into the picture at all."

Answer: No

Though the Swiss supply Liechtenstein with an army, and a rail service, and a postal service, and money, and a football (soccer) league, cheese and Toblerones, Liechtenstein has never been a part of Switzerland. The confusion dates back to 1949. That was when Liechtenstein was applying for member status in the United Nations. The main objection against their application came from the Ukrainian delegate (remember, back then it was an S.S.R., not today's Ukraine) who stated that Liechtenstein might as well be a canton of Switzerland. The application was approved, however, and the members of the Soviet bloc abstained when it was put to a vote.

Wait, wait! How dare I attribute the rail service to the Swiss! It's clearly run by the Lie... er, Austrians.

Answer: about 600

The entire country of Liechtenstein had about 38 thousand people in 2017. That's fewer than many towns around where I live. Vaduz, the capital, had 5407 people living in it at the official census at the end of 2016. Neighbouring Schaan had, in 2015, just fewer than 6000 people. I wouldn't go as far as to categorize these as two sprawling metropolises; nevertheless, they do provide financial and political stability for the rest of the country.

Answer: United Kingdom

"Oben am jungen Rhein" is the national anthem of Liechtenstein and has been since 1920. It was written by Jakob Josef Jauch, a pastor from Switzerland, and contained lyrics that spoke of the beauty of the Rhine at a time when German claims west of the river were all contested by the French. Songs written in German all pointed to the beauty of the land and the German claims to the region.

The current lyrics to the anthem have removed Christian religious and German nationalistic verses, and the tune was set to "God Save the King". At the time, it was not the only country to have their anthem to that tune, however, by the 21st century, it was the only other national anthem to still carry it, other than the United Kingdom, of course.

Answer: Alpine skiing

Hanni Wenzel won Liechtenstein's first ever Olympic medal at the 1976 Winter Games at Innsbruck (of course, she did not have that far to go to compete...). She was a champion Alpine skier and won two golds and a silver in the 1980 Winter Games at Lake Placid. Her brother, Andreas, also won a silver medal at that time, and another bronze medal in the 1984 Sarajevo Games. To keep the family tradition alive, her daughter, Tina Weirather, won a bronze medal in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, narrowly missing a second podium finish by 0.16 seconds. Seven medals, one family, impressive.

Liechtenstein, sitting in the Eastern Alps, has won its first ten Olympic medals in Alpine skiing. Per capita, this made Liechtenstein the most successful nation in Olympic history.

Answer: Anchors

Ok, ok, before you go and yell at me (again), when I say that Hilti makes anchors, I mean that the company manufactures construction anchors, as in, things that screw into a concrete slab, perhaps, and allow you to attach stuff to it, securely. Hilti is a construction company and they also make drills and drill bits, power tools, and saws, to name a few products. They are very successful, and have offices outside of Liechtenstein as well.

The company is based in Schaan and, according to their website, employed more than 27,000 people in 2018. That's nearly as many people as the entire country it is based in, though, to be fair, most of them work outside of Liechtenstein.

In 2018, Liechtenstein exported a curious mix of products including dentures, stamps, chemicals, and vehicular parts. Despite limited local resources for manufacturing, the country managed to thrive economically by importing raw materials and food while generating substantial revenue from exports. This financial success allowed Liechtenstein to maintain a debt-free status, with even larger nations like Austria, Germany, and the United States owing debts to this tiny principality.

Answer: Upper and lower land.

Wahlkreis Unterland and Wahlkreis Oberland might be in English the lower and upper land respectively, but, in a country as small as Liechtenstein, such a division is mainly for the local elections and the allocation of the representatives in the Landtag, the legislative branch of the government.

Unterland is the more northern of the two districts, and smaller, taking up about 20% of the land area of the entire country. This was originally the land of Schellenberg and was the original property bought by the princes of Liechtenstein. In the Landtag, the region is given ten representatives. Oberland was the region of Vaduz, and is larger and more populous. It contains the cities of Vaduz and Schaan and is allocated fifteen representatives.

Answer: Rhine

The Rhine River forms the western border of the principality, with its lowest point found in the town of Ruggell, where it flows northward. This spot, situated at approximately 430 meters above sea level, marks the country's lowest elevation. Despite this, Liechtenstein is predominantly mountainous, with the towering peaks of the eastern Alps dominating its landscape. Among these peaks, the Grauspitz stands as the highest point, soaring to an altitude of approximately 2599 meters above sea level.

Liechtenstein has only one natural lake, Gampriner Seele, and it was formed in 1927 when the Rhine flooded and caused a large erosion of its banks. The resultant lake sits very near the current path of the Rhine. Excessive water drainage causing erosion leading to rock falls is a danger in Liechtenstein. To combat this, a series of canals was built (or extended from other countries) in the country to manage the water flow and to make the country safer. The largest canal is the Binnenkanal, and along with the Samina River and the Spiersbach, help drain the excess water flow, especially Spring snow melting off of the Alpine peaks.

Answer: Independence as a Principality

Surprisingly, the national holiday of Liechtenstein has nothing to do with its independence. The unification between Vaduz and Schellenberg happened on January 23rd, 1718, but, seriously, who wants to be outside watching fireworks in an Alpine country in the middle of the winter?

In Liechtenstein, a banking holiday was already held every August 15th to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption. Seeing as how August 16th was Prince Franz-Josef II's birthday, it was decided to combine these two events into one long celebration. Even after the Prince's death in 1989, August 15th was still celebrated as the national holiday and was enacted as the official holiday in 1990.

On this day all of the residents of Liechtenstein are invited to Castle Vaduz for food, drinks, music, and fireworks. In 2005, Prince Hans-Adam II decided to pass on powers to his son, Alois, as a transition of power, and the 15th of August was symbolically decided as the day to do this.