The Liechtenstein Cathedral (also: St. Florins Church in Vaduz) is an east-facing neo-Gothic three-aisled church with a front tower in Vaduz , Liechtenstein , which was built between 1869 and 1873 according to the plans of Friedrich von Schmidt under the direction of the architect Ignaz von Banko was built. The patron of the church is Saint Florinus of Remüs, who lived in the 7th century and came from Matsch in Vinschgau .
History
Since ancient times, the religious center in the upper region of today's Principality of Liechtenstein has been the neighboring community of Schaan with the church of St. Peter, built on the foundations of the Roman fort . A people's priest was first mentioned for Vaduz around 1250. After the County of Vaduz was founded (1342), the Florin Chapel in Vaduz became the count's own church ; The patronage rights passed to the House of Liechtenstein in 1712 when the county was acquired . A chapel may have been built as early as the early Middle Ages; The church is mentioned repeatedly from 1375 onwards and was subsequently renovated and enlarged several times. At times the chapel was also the burial place of the sovereigns from the families of the Counts of Werdenberg, Barons of Brandis, Counts of Sulz and von Hohenems. The chapel was re-consecrated in 1602. In 1842 the relationship with the mother church in Schaan loosened with the establishment of an independent curate (“Lower Chaplaincy”). The church field southeast of the church has been open to general use since 1844; In the 17th century, the cemetery was reserved solely for the count's house and his servants.
Building history
In 1868 the decision was made to build a new church in Vaduz because the Florins Chapel could no longer meet the increased demands. The area south of the still existing Florins Chapel was chosen as the building site. The church was built according to the plans of Friedrich von Schmidt under the direction of the architect Ignaz von Banko. The foundation stone was laid on August 17, 1869 and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated on June 18, 1870. The three altars were finally consecrated in October 1873. The construction costs, excluding interior furnishings, amounted to around 205,000 guilders, of which more than three quarters were contributed by the Prince of Liechtenstein .
In 1872 the tower and sacristy of the Florin Chapel were demolished, and finally in 1874 the last remains of the previous building, which probably dates from the last third of the first millennium, were demolished.
In 1965 and 1966, under the direction of architect Hans Rheinberger, the parish church was extensively renovated in accordance with the liturgical requirements of the Second Vatican Council . Furthermore, the church building was expanded by adding the baptismal chapel.
The church has been a listed building since April 24, 1992.
Own parish and elevation to cathedral
The parish of St. Florin covers the area of the municipality of Vaduz , which has an area of over 17 km² and has around 5,038 inhabitants, of which around 3,000 are Catholics. It emerged from the Schaan parish area with the inauguration of the St. Florin Church in 1873 .
With the Apostolic Constitution Ad satius consulendum of December 2, 1997, Pope John Paul II separated the area of the Principality of Liechtenstein from the Diocese of Chur and re-established the Archdiocese of Vaduz for this area. Wolfgang Haas became the first archbishop . At the same time, the parish church of St. Florin was elevated to a cathedral .
Architecture
Due to the hillside location of the church, the front parts of the building rest on a substructure with an open front; The rock under the rear parts, however, has been removed. The elevated entrance portal can only be reached via a flight of stairs with landings . The facade of the church is dominated by a multi-story bell tower , stabilized at the corners by stepped buttresses , which ends in an octagonal pointed helmet .
The interior of the church has three naves , with the tops of the ribbed vaults of all three naves resting on four columns at the same height (“ hall church ” ). The side aisles end in unstructured and unadorned walls, which are only presented with unadorned altars . The polygonal central apse, on the other hand, is extended to the east by one and a half bays and is significantly more decorative. All windows have tracery in the High Gothic style.
Facilities
Artworks
The 47 cm high bust reliquary of St. Florin was created around 1520 as a half-figure with a biretta and a chalice. A chest niche in the figure was prepared to hold a relic .
The preserved 77 cm high wooden sculpture of God the Father was probably created in Vorarlberg around 1550 as part of a depiction of Mary's coronation . (Other figures should be in various wayside shrines in the local area, for example at Haus Verling in Mitteldorf)
The baroque wall figures were created around 1670, probably for the former Florin Chapel: Apostles Peter and Paul next to the high altar, and in the side chapel Christ as ruler of the world , Mary under the cross and Evangelist John .
The high altar with statues of the four evangelists was created by Josef Leimer in Vienna in 1873.
Under the altar there is a Gothic wooden sculpture of the Tomb of Christ , which probably comes from Carinthia .
In 1961, the sculptor Hans von Matt from Stans created the bronze figures of Christmas and Pietà on the stairs to the church.
During the renovation in 1965, a 125 cm high Gothic wooden sculpture of the Madonna and Child (created around 1480 in a Lower Bavarian workshop) was donated to the parish church.
In 1965, the sculptor Emil Gehrer from Bregenz created the Stations of the Cross for the parish church.
The glass paintings are works by the artist Martin Häusle († 1966) from Feldkirch : Song of Praise of the Young Men in the Fiery Furnace (according to Dan 3:51-90), The Spirit of God over the Primeval Flood , The Passage through the Red Sea and The Easter Morning .
Rheinberger organ
The then Prince of Liechtenstein asked the composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger , who came from there , to look for a good organ builder for the new church. Rheinberger, who worked in Munich, then wrote to the Steinmeyer company in 1871 . The organ he designed with 33 registers, a cone chest and a colorful, fundamental-toned, highly dynamic sound was then built by him in 1873/74. Rheinberger played it at the inauguration.
The Vaduz organ was spared the tin front pipes being melted down during the First World War. The instrument was rebuilt and expanded in 1947 and the front was moved back by 1.25 m. In 1979, Organ Builder Mathis renovated the organ again. In the years 2010 to 2013, the organ, of which 956 pipes from 25 original registers were still preserved, was restored to its original condition as part of a new restoration by Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen , but with the addition of seven registers in the sill an electronic storage system. Several surviving Steinmeyer organs in the Czech Republic served as models for reconstructing missing pipes. Due to the limited space from 1947 onwards, the re-installation of cone boxes was ruled out; Owl installed sliding drawer. The organ is tuned to a′ = 431 Hz. In order to enable interaction with instruments tuned to 440 Hz, Eule installed a two-stop accompaniment that can be played from the first manual and is tuned to 440 Hz.
Princely Crypt
Until the period after the Second World War, the traditional burial place of the House of Liechtenstein was in the Paulaner monastery in Wranau ( Vranov u Brna , Moravia). For the younger line there was a family vault in Moravian Kromau . After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Liechtenstein princes had to leave their southern Moravian castles in Lednice (Eisgrub) and Valtice (Feldsberg). After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in March 1938, the newly ruling Prince Franz Josef II, the first prince of Liechtenstein , decided - due to his rejection of National Socialism - to move his residence to Liechtenstein to Vaduz Castle . [9] This also made it necessary to build a new family burial place. In 1960, the princely crypt near St. Florin was built according to plans by the Liechtenstein architect Hans Rheinberger . The burial site contains an altar with a stone cross. The entrance door of the crypt is a bronze high relief made in 1992 by the Italian artist Carmelo Pozzolo with an artistic representation of the raising of Lazarus . The princely coat of arms is also in bronze above the door.
The prince's crypt is located a few meters south of the cathedral and is only open to the public once a year, on All Saints' Day (November 1st).
The following members of the Liechtenstein royal family were buried here:
Maria Elisabeth von Leutzendorff, Princess of Liechtenstein (May 23, 1921 to September 10, 1944) – (wife of Prince Constantin)
Elsa von Gutmann, Princess of Liechtenstein (January 6, 1875 to September 28, 1947) – (wife of Prince Franz I )
Prince Eduard of Liechtenstein (September 2, 1872 to May 8, 1951)
Prince Alois of Liechtenstein (June 17, 1869 to March 16, 1955)
Prince Karl Aloys of Liechtenstein (September 16, 1878 to June 20, 1955)
Prince Johannes of Liechtenstein (January 6, 1873 to September 3, 1959)
Elisabeth, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Liechtenstein (July 7, 1878 to March 13, 1960) – (wife of Prince Alois)
Maria Annunziata, Archduchess of Austria (July 31, 1876 to April 7, 1961) – (Sister of Princess Elisabeth)
Princess Marizza of Liechtenstein, Countess Andrassy (December 7, 1886 to December 14, 1961)
Elisabeth von Urach, Princess of Liechtenstein (August 23, 1894 to October 13, 1962) – (wife of Prince Karl Aloys)
Princess Maria Therese of Liechtenstein (September 9, 1871 to April 9, 1964)
Olga Pückler of Limburg, Princess of Liechtenstein (April 11, 1873 to February 14, 1966) – (wife of Prince Eduard)
Prince Alois of Liechtenstein (December 20, 1917 to February 14, 1967)
Therese Maria zu Oettingen-Oettingen, Princess of Liechtenstein (July 1, 1887 to March 29, 1971) – (wife of Prince Alfred)
Prince Ulrich of Liechtenstein (August 29, 1913 to October 12, 1978)
Prince Johannes of Liechtenstein (October 18, 1899 to November 5, 1979)
Prince Ferdinand of Liechtenstein (January 18, 1901 to February 6, 1981)
Emma von Hohenau von Gutmannsthal-Benvenuti (May 14, 1926 to August 31, 1984) – (wife of Count Wilhelm von Hohenau)
Georgina von Wilczek, Princess of Liechtenstein (October 24, 1921 to October 18, 1989) – (wife of Prince Franz Josef II )
Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein (August 16, 1906 to November 13, 1989)
Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein (November 19, 1962 to February 28, 1991)
Prince Heinrich of Liechtenstein (October 21, 1920 to November 29, 1993)
Prince Georg of Liechtenstein (November 11, 1911 to January 18, 1998)
Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein (December 23, 1911 to March 28, 2001)
Prince Hans Moritz of Liechtenstein (March 6, 1914 to February 3, 2004)
Princess Jean of Liechtenstein, née French (October 12, 1917 to July 28, 2005)
Wilhelm, Count of Hohenau (May 29, 1922 to November 27, 2006)
Prince Vincenz of Liechtenstein (July 30, 1950 to January 14, 2008)
Princess Eleonore of Liechtenstein (May 28, 1920 to May 30, 2008)
Princess Clothilde of Liechtenstein (November 30, 1922 to September 1, 2009)
Prince Dominik of Liechtenstein (June 20, 1950 to September 20, 2009)
Princess Alienor Faye of Liechtenstein (September 29, 2014 to December 13, 2015)
Princess Ilona of Liechtenstein (May 17, 1921 to August 2, 2019)
Marie Kinsky von Wchinitz and Tettau, Princess of Liechtenstein , (April 14, 1940 to August 21, 2021) – (wife of Prince Hans-Adam II)
Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein (March 15, 1972 to December 5, 2023) – (Son of Prince Hans-Adam II)
There is a ban on sound and image recordings in the Princely Crypt.
Postage stamps
1925: The parish church of Vaduz, together with the government building, is the subject of a postage stamp issue by the principality for the first time (denomination 1 ½ francs).
1930: The picture page of a postal stationery (value 20 centimes) shows a view of Vaduz with the castle, church and surrounding area.
1966: A four-part edition series honors the restoration of the parish church with a side view (value 5 centimes) and figure details of St. Florin (value 10 centimes), Madonna (value 30 centimes) and God the Father Enthroned (value 170 centimes).
Vaduz is the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein . The municipality in the Oberland is the residence of the prince as well as the seat of the state government , the state parliament and all courts . It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of the same name .
Vaduz is particularly well-known for its role as an international financial center . The municipality has six exclaves and is therefore an administrative unit divided into seven. The inhabitants are called Vaduzer , the adjective is Vaduzisch .
The municipality has an area of 17,284 km² and includes the village of Vaduz and its immediate surroundings as well as six exclaves. The area with the village of Vaduz borders Schaan to the north , Triesenberg to the east, Triesen to the south and the Swiss communities of Sevelen and Buchs SG , located on the other side of the Rhine , to the west . The highest point in the municipality is 2150 m above sea level. M. the silver horn .
Four exclaves are located in the Rhine Valley. These are the agriculturally used Vaduzer Riet between the Schaaner industrial area and Eschen / Nendeln , the forests of Forst at the foot of the Three Sisters massif and Rüttistein and Dachsegg above Planken . The forest plots are owned by the Vaduz citizens' cooperative , whose members are entitled to the annual loose wood. At around 900 m above sea level. Traces of a prehistoric settlement were found in Dachsegg.
Two exclaves are located in the mountain area: on the one hand, the cooperative Alps Pradamee and Hahnenspiel and on the other hand, the Alp Hinter Valorsch . The Pradamee and Hahnenspiel Alps in the Malbun high valley were formerly known as Vaduz Malbun .
The Alp Hintervalorsch was separated from Vorder- and Mittlervalorsch in 1643 because of a dispute between Vaduz and Schaan and has belonged to Vaduz ever since. [8th]
In 1781, the use of the alpine pastures was divided between the Vaduz upper and lower villages and separate alpine buildings were built on the Under Pradamee (1500 m above sea level) and the Upper Pradamee (1700 m above sea level). Since 1930, the municipality of Vaduz has received around one million cubic meters of drinking water from Pradamee every year. The separate dairy operation ended around the middle of the 20th century. Since then, part of the milk has been made into cheese on the Ober Pradamee.
In 1962, the first ski lift in Malbun was built in the Alp Pradamee area, which was replaced by new chairlifts in 2006 along with other old lifts.
The Alp Hahnenspiel is used as Galtalp . One at approx. 2000 m above sea level. The small cave located M. served as a burial place for a dead person during the early Bronze Age .
Alp Gaflei, which was purchased by the municipality of Vaduz in 1952, is located in the Triesenberg municipality. Although the alpine buildings have been demolished since 2006, the alpine pastures continue to be used.
Vaduz was first mentioned in 1175/1200 as de Faduzes , two mentions from 1021 are later forgeries. The name, like many others in the Rhine Valley, is of Romanesque origin and goes back to Old Romansh auadutg “moat; Canal for mills and sawmills; Mill flume”, which in turn comes from the Latin aquaeductus .
On May 3, 1342, the then dominion of the Counts of Bregenz was divided, creating the County of Vaduz . In 1392, under Counts Henry V. (I.) and Hartmann IV. (II.) of Werdenberg-Sargans-Vaduz, it gained imperial immediacy through a privilege from King Wenceslas . In the following decades and centuries, the county repeatedly became the scene of wars and looting, e.g. B. in the Old Zurich War (1444–1446) or in the Swabian War (1499–1500).
Over time, the rulers of Hohenems became increasingly indebted, so that they were ultimately forced to sell the county of Vaduz and the neighboring lordship of Schellenberg . In 1699, Prince Hans Adam of Liechtenstein acquired the rule of Schellenberg and in 1712 the county of Vaduz. On January 23, 1719, a diploma from Emperor Charles VI united. the county of Vaduz with the rule of Schellenberg and raised it to an imperial principality with the name Liechtenstein. As a result, Vaduz became increasingly important.
In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Confederation of the Rhine , which also included Liechtenstein and thereby effectively became independent. This independence was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna and Liechtenstein was accepted into the German Confederation .
However, Liechtenstein – and thus also Vaduz – remained very backward for a long time. It was only the customs treaty concluded with Austria in 1852 that enabled economic conditions to improve, and a constitutional constitution of 1862 brought political change so that the prince could no longer rule without restrictions.
The First World War impoverished the population, and at the end of the war the customs agreement with the war loser Austria-Hungary was dissolved.
After the customs treaty with Austria was dissolved in 1919, Liechtenstein became increasingly closer to Switzerland , and in 1923 the customs treaty with Switzerland, which still exists today, was signed. After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in March 1938, the newly ruling Prince Franz Josef II, the first prince of Liechtenstein, decided - because of his rejection of National Socialism - to move his residence to Liechtenstein to Vaduz Castle . Liechtenstein remained neutral during the Second World War and was never involved in direct hostilities. Instead, the principality was able to use its locational advantages (no loss of army personnel, central location, customs union with Switzerland, tax advantages, political stability), so that many new industrial companies were founded in Vaduz, but also in the wider principality, and progress in the country began to make rapid progress .
As of December 31, 2018, Vaduz had 5,625 inhabitants and was the second largest municipality in Liechtenstein after Schaan (with 6,016 inhabitants). At around 42 percent, the proportion of foreigners in Vaduz was higher than in all other Liechtenstein communities.
According to the 2015 census, 66.5 percent of the total population is Roman Catholic , with the proportion of Catholics among the population with Liechtenstein citizenship (80.8 percent) being significantly higher than among the population with foreign citizenship (47.1 percent Catholics). 10.1 percent of Vaduz's residents are Protestants , and 2.6 percent belong to another Christian church (majority Christian Orthodox churches ). 7.7 percent are Muslim , and other religions make up 0.75 percent of the population. Non-religious people make up 9.2 percent of the population - the highest proportion in Liechtenstein.
In the historical lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Vaduz is defined as the main town. Despite these official declarations, the term main location appears to be controversial among the general public. The principality's tourism website often refers to Vaduz as the capital, as do several Vaduz hotels, several media outlets (such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Die Welt , the Geo , the Kronen Zeitung or the Deutschlandfunk), the Association of the Consular Corps in the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Hubert Büchel said during his lecture in the Feldkirch Palais Liechtenstein in 1988 : “Vaduz with 5,000 inhabitants is of a size where we do not yet dare to speak of a ‘capital’, but at best of a ‘capital town’.”
In a travel magazine, the moderator Hape Kerkeling asked the FBP politician and former mayor of Vaduz, Manfred Bischof, whether one could “seriously speak of a capital” for a place with 6,000 inhabitants. Bishop replied that Vaduz could seriously be called a capital, since Liechtenstein is its own country and a country also has a capital.
The former Vaduz local councilor and former president of the Johann Schädler Agra Foundation , Stefanie Hasler, said on “ Vaterland TV ” at the end of 2022 that Vaduz is actually a capital and that “every now and then” he doesn’t dare to say so .
In March 2023, the Munich Merkur described Vaduz as the “de facto capital” of Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein Art Museum : Opened in 2000, the state museum for modern and contemporary art houses the state art collection of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The facade, a colored and seamlessly cast concrete made of predominantly black basalt rock and colored river gravel, is treated in such a way that “a lively play is created on the reflective surface”.
Liechtenstein State Museum : The cultural and natural history of Liechtenstein is presented here . The museum includes two old buildings and a new building in Vaduz. In addition, the postal museum in Vaduz and a rural living museum in Schellenberg are assigned to the state museum.
“ Engländerbau ” with postal museum : The “Engländerbau” was built in 1933/1934 on behalf of an English company as a commercial building. Today it is an exhibition building that shows changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since 2002, it has also been home to the Postal Museum, which is part of the State Museum and collects, preserves and makes available to the public important documents and artifacts from Liechtenstein philately and postal history.
Kurt Beck Watch Museum : Opened in March 2018 at Lettstrasse 39, the privately run museum shows around 250 antique watches by the collector Kurt Beck.
Vaduz Castle : The landmark of Vaduz was built in the 12th century and finally expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle has been owned by the Princes of Liechtenstein since 1712, but was not inhabited for a long time and fell increasingly into disrepair. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that it was extensively renovated, and in 1938 Prince Franz Josef II became the first prince of Liechtenstein to move his permanent residence to the castle. Since then it has no longer been open to the public.
Schalun ruins : The medieval Schalun castle ruins (also called the “Wildschloss”) were built in the 12th century and were supplemented by other parts of the building over time. The ruins are located above Vaduz Castle at an altitude of approx. 850 m above sea level. M. Large parts of the foundation walls are still preserved today, especially the core of the castle with building remains up to ten meters high. The castle has been owned by the municipality of Vaduz since 1933.
“ Red House ”: It is a listed medieval stepped-gable house in the middle village of Vaduz. It belonged to the Vaistli between 1400 and 1500 : The house was acquired by an heir of the Vaistlis in 1525 from the monastery of St. Johann im Thurtal, and the associated vineyard ( Wingert ) has retained its resulting name, Abtswingert, to this day.
St. Florin Chapel: The St. Florin Chapel was a sacred building in the municipality of Vaduz that was probably built in the early modern period. In 1872 the tower and sacristy and in 1874 the remaining parts of the building were demolished, so that the chapel is no longer preserved today. A paving on the floor plan in the center of Vaduz refers to the former location of the chapel. In addition, a large part of the equipment has been preserved or found a new use: the bells of the chapel, for example, were used in the casting of the four bells of the new parish church of St. Florin.
St. Florin Cathedral : The neo-Gothic church was built between 1868 and 1873 and inaugurated on October 5, 1873. With the inauguration of the parish church, Vaduz became a parish, as the community had until then been attached to the original parish of Schaan . Until 1997, Liechtenstein belonged to the diocese of Chur . On December 2, 1997, the Archdiocese of Vaduz was established by Pope John Paul II and separated from the Diocese of Chur. At the same time as the founding of the Archdiocese of Vaduz, the parish church of St. Florin was elevated to the status of a cathedral.
St. Josef Chapel: It was built in 1930 and 1931. It is located in the Ebenholz district and is a branch church of the municipality of Vaduz. The chapel can be seen as an example of a clearly structured church type, as was often built in the 1930s.
The Ebenholz Evangelical Church is located in the Ebenholz district and was built in 1962 and 1963. The modern church building has a clear structure with a choir and a tower in the north and an organ gallery above the main entrance. The three bells come from the Schellenberg monastery church and were cast in 1880.
The Johanneskirche is the sacred building of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The church building was built in 1947 as an emergency church in Stuttgart and finally transferred to Liechtenstein as a gift in 1956. The organ, which dates from the early 18th century, is particularly significant.
Princely crypt : Until the Second World War, the princely crypt in Wranau served as a burial place for the princely family of Liechtenstein. When Franz Josef II became the first prince to move his residence to Vaduz, a new grave was built between 1958 and 1960 in the park south of the cathedral. Prince Franz Josef II was the first sovereign to be buried here in 1989. Since 1992 there has been a relief on the wings of the entrance door showing the resurrection of Lazarus .
Liechtenstein State Parliament Building : The state parliament building was opened in 2008 after 7 years of construction. Since then, it has served as a plenary hall for the state parliament of the Principality of Liechtenstein , where all members of the state parliament can sit at a single round table. Over a million clinker bricks, 600 tons of steel and 5,800 cubic meters of concrete were used in the construction, which cost 42.2 million Swiss francs.
Government building of Liechtenstein : The government building was built from 1903 to 1905 in the neo-baroque style. It contained major technical innovations for Liechtenstein, which was poor at the time: the first central heating system in Liechtenstein was installed in the government building. The building, popularly known as the “Big House”, has been a listed building since 1992.
Vaduz town hall : The town hall was built in 1932 and 1933. Of particular importance is a balcony fresco on the south facade depicting Saint Urban , the patron saint of winegrowers. The coat of arms of the municipality of Vaduz is carved on the entrance front .
“ Rheinbergerhaus ”: The building was built around 1550 and was first mentioned in documents in 1613. It is significant because the composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839–1901) was born in this house. At the age of twelve he left his hometown to receive musical training in Munich . He worked in Munich his entire life and died there. After the Second World War, he and his wife were transferred to Vaduz in 1945. A bronze portrait of Josef Gabriel Rheinberger was erected in front of his birthplace in 1939/1940.
Old Rhine Bridge : Since 1901, the old Rhine Bridge has connected Vaduz with the Swiss community of Sevelen . The 135 meter long bridge is the only remaining wooden Rhine bridge in Liechtenstein. The bridges of the other Liechtenstein communities were abandoned due to dilapidation or fires and replaced by concrete bridges. Since the opening of the new Rhine bridge, the bridge, which consists of five pillars, has only been accessible to non-motorized private transport. It was extensively renovated in 2009/2010.
The most important sports club is FC Vaduz . As of 2022, he has won the Liechtenstein Cup 48 times and plays in the second highest Swiss league, the Challenge League . FC Vaduz's venue is the Rheinpark Stadium , where the Liechtenstein national football team also plays its home games.
