Interesting facts about Liechtenstein: Fun facts you need to know
Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world. If you searched for Liechtenstein fun facts, you are at the right spot. We have curated the “must-know” as well as some interesting facts about Liechtenstein.
Interesting facts about Liechtenstein: Fun facts you need to know
Liechtenstein was founded in the 18th century
Liechtenstein was established on the 23rd of January 1719, as the ‘Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein”.
Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked country
Liechtenstein is surrounded by Switzerland and Austria, which in turn is also landlocked by other European countries, making it the second doubly landlocked country after Uzbekistan.
Liechtenstein is Europe’s fourth and world’s sixth smallest country
Liechtenstein is all of 160 square kilometers, making it Europe’s fourth-smallest country and the world’s sixth. Many refer to Liechtenstein as a microstate. The term is typically used to refer to the six smallest states in Europe by area, which includes Liechtenstein. But if you go by the United Nations definitions, Liechtenstein is recognized as an independent country, when it became its member in 1990.
Note: Microstates are small states with a sovereign head. European microstates include Andorra, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City.
World’s Richest Country – Liechtenstein fun facts
Liechtenstein is the richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita income. Its lowest unemployment rate is 1.5%.
No wonder, Liechtenstein has the highest number of private banks – A rich country (and true for many of the smaller nations) is also quite prosperous and is supported by strong financial networks – mostly private banks. They are also tax havens (and many prefer to have bank accounts in these countries).
A country as rich as Liechtenstein has no airport!
You can’t just land in Liechtenstein. You have either travel from Switzerland (it makes for a great day trip from Zurich) or from Austria because Liechtenstein has no airport.
Liechtenstein is the largest producer of the world’s false teeth
Liechtenstein produces 20% of the world’s false teeth. A company named Ivoclar Vivadent, based in Schaan manufactures about 60 million artificial teeth every year. Chances are if you or anyone you know uses false teeth, they are a good chance it came out from Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein Fun Fact: These false teeth are surprisingly popular in the Indian movie industry – Bollywood!
Liechtenstein shares a lot with Switzerland – like Swiss Francs and Customs procedures
Liechtenstein and Switzerland are the only countries in the world whose official currency is Swiss Francs. Euros are accepted, and both follow Schengen rules for entry for a tourist visa.
No border control between Liechtenstein and Switzerland
If you are visiting Liechtenstein from Switzerland, you don’t have to show your passport at border control (there isn’t any). If you have traveling on a Schengen visa, you are allowed in Liechtenstein as well. If you fancy a passport stamp, the local tourist office does that for 3 francs, and they stamp your passport!
You will find no foreign embassies in Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein and Vatican City are the only countries of microstates in the world not to host any embassy.
Liechtenstein is a hereditary democratic constitutional monarchy
Liechtenstein is a principality governed under a constitutional monarchy, where the Prince is the hereditary Head of State. The country also has an elected Prime Minister, who is the Head of the Government with delegated authority. In 1866, Liechtenstein became fully independent from the Holy Roman Empire.
Prince Hans-Adam II resides in the Vaduz Castle in the capital village. Vaduz is also home to the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, which is a state art museum. The royal family also possesses the second-largest private art collection in the world.
Liechtenstein’s national anthem – same melody, but different words
Dance and party with the Prince of Liechtenstein in their castle
The Prince of Lichtenstein is not only one of the richest man in the world (richer than the Queen), but also the coolest. He invites his people every year on August 15, which also marks his predecessor’s birthday (16th August) and National Day of Lichtenstein, for wine and cheese at the Vaduz Castle!
How cool is that? Everyone gets an invite – like E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E! Well, this is also the only time the castle gates are open to the public, otherwise, you can’t visit the Vaduz Castle, which is considered one of the prime attractions of the country!
Vaduz Castle and Gutenberg Castle: Which one are you allowed to visit?
If you LOVE castles as much as I do, you will love Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein has small and big castles sprinkled all across the country, the problem is not all of them are open to visitors
Vaduz Castle that towers over the capital city, is super inviting and one can hike for 20 minutes to reach the top and wander around the gardens and that’s about it. Other than the National Day celebrated on August 15th, the castle is off-limits. It is the current residence of the Prince of Lichtenstein – Prince Hans-Adam II and his wife – her Serene Highness the Princess of Liechtenstein – Marie Aglaë.
15 minutes away from Vaduz is the Castle of Gutenberg, which no longer serves as the residence of the royal family and it is open for tourists to visit.
There is only natural lake in Liechtenstein
A country blessed natural landscapes and mountain terrain only has one natural lake. Gampriner Seele, located about 15 minutes from the capital city of Vaduz is the only natural lake in Liechtenstein. It has a surface area of 1.53 hectares.
Buy or rent Liechtenstein for a day
I came across this news article – a few years ago, where it said you can rent the entire country of Liechtenstein for a day. So for a sum of $70,000 USD per night (for up to 150 guests), the entire country is decked up for you, meaning you will be given a new currency, street names will be changed and you also get to join the Prince for a wine tasting session in Vaduz.
Now, this was before we visited Liechtenstein in 2019, and I don’t know if anyone ever took that offer. Upon further research, we found that it was an ad curated by a property owner/ Airbnb and a local marketing company, that came up with the idea.
Other than initial inquiries by rapper Snoop Dogg (for this music video), no one ever took that offer!
Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein, but Liechtenstein didn’t know
Liechtenstein was accidentally invaded by Switzerland *opps*. Liechtenstein had no clue this was going on – they have no military. Liechtensteiners came to know about it when the Swiss army apologized to them for invading.
Liechtenstein didn’t recognize the Czech Republic or Slovakia as a sovereign state
Back in the Hapsburg days, the Liechtenstein royal family owned many estates and properties across western and central Europe. One of them was the Lednice-Valtice located in Moravia in the Czech Republic.
Lednice-Valtice was the royal residence of the Princes of Liechtenstein and it is actually larger than the country itself. During the Communist turmoil, the royal family fled from Lednice-Valtice to Vaduz.
After the collapse of Communist powers, and with the Velvet Revolution, the Czech Republic became an independent capitalist nation. All the properties occupied by the Communist rulers were handed over to its rightful owners, so Liechtenstein requested theirs.
But it was refused. And then an offer was put forward by the Czech Republic, which was later rejected by the Prince.
Diplomatic relations exist between the 2 countries resumed in 2009, and today Lednice-Valtice is a Czech treasure.
Liechtenstein has 11 constituencies and the capital is not the largest – Interesting facts about Liechtenstein
Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein, and the country has 11 constituencies and Schaan is the largest of them all.
Spend 30 years, become a citizen of Lichtenstein: Fun facts
We thought if renting Liechtenstein for a day is $70,000, how easy or difficult is it to get citizenship in Liechtenstein. It looks like, it is very hard – they don’t offer citizenship easily and you have to invest ample time, work and pay taxes before even being considered to be eligible. Citizenship by naturalization is a whopping 30-year commitment!
Now having moved to Canada from India (and we understand the procedure – it’s all good), but there is a way to shorten the 30 year period and that is through an election. In Lichtenstein, the locals have to “vote” for you to be a part of them. Final approval is also required from the Parliament of Liechtenstein and the granting of citizenship by the Prince. Whichever method you choose, you got to renounce your old citizenship to become a Liechtensteiner.
Liechtenstein has more registered companies than citizens
You heard it! The country has a very developed and highly industrialized free-enterprise economy and being a tax haven, many companies are registered here in Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein is a safe country
The crime rate in Liechtenstein is one of the lowest, making it a very safe country to visit for all types of travelers.
Liechtenstein is a happy country
A population of 38,000-40,000 residents, Liechtensteiners are a pretty chilled out group of people! The standard of living is great, people are rich, they also get an hour of lunch break (from 1:30 to 2:30 pm) at work and they enjoy the good life surrounded by greenery and mountains.
You could explore Liechtenstein in one day
Liechtenstein can be easily explored in a day. If you are short on time, you can explore Vaduz in 30 minutes with the CityTrain!
Hope you enjoyed learning these interesting and fun facts about Liechtenstein. Learn how to take a day trip to Vaduz from Zurich
