This article by political scientist and long-standing high-ranking diplomat Roland Marxer provides an insight into Liechtenstein-Czech relations seen through the eyes of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Principality of Liechtenstein. For Liechtenstein as a state, for the princely family, but also for individual Liechtenstein nationals who did not belong to the princely family, a difficult situation arose after the Second World War, largely as a result of the Beneš decrees. Liechtenstein repeatedly stated to Czechoslovakia that it considered the confiscation of Liechtenstein property as assets of persons of "German nationality", which took place in 1945, to be an unacceptable violation of international law. Especially since the beginning of the 1990s, numerous initiatives have been taken at both bilateral and multilateral level in order to achieve lasting recognition of the sovereignty of Liechtenstein by Czechoslovakia, or more exactly, by its two successor states. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the associated changes in Eastern Europe, the European political landscape changed fundamentally, raising promising hopes for future cooperation in Europe. It must have seemed strange that three European states which were members of different European and international organizations and, as a result, were committed to cooperation that pursued the same goals, still did not have a resolution – in addition to the still unresolved issues of compensation – to mutual recognition and the establishment of diplomatic and consular relations. An agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations and future cooperation was signed on 8 September 2009. On 7 April 2010, a Memorandum on the Establishment of the Czech-Liechtenstein Commission of Historians was signed, followed by a visit by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs to Vaduz.
One of the objectives of the Czech-Liechtenstein Commission of Historians was to try to chart the contemporary state of research into several historical themes which had been suggested as a result of the Czech-Liechtenstein declaration of 2009. This concerns the history of the Principality of Liechtenstein with a particular focus on Czech-Liechtenstein relationships, as well as on the history of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, again in relation to its activities on the territory of the Czech lands as well as in Central Europe. This overview of the literature shows that the history of the Liechtenstein family and its standing in Central European and European history has been a long-term presence in European historiography. The history of the Liechtenstein family has been studied within the context of aristocratic history/the history of social elites, the history of states, cultural and art history, as well as regional and local historiography. Within Czech historiography, the Liechtenstein family is typically present as part of the history of the Czech state and the history of Czech society, particularly in connection with the history of the medieval Czech kingdom, the history of the Battle of White Mountain, as well as relating to research into the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic and the history of memory and identity. Therefore, the history of the Liechtenstein family differs substantially from the traditional histories of the nobility and individual aristocratic families. In terms of the historiography of Liechtenstein itself, there is a relatively close connection between the history of the Liechtenstein family and the Liechtenstein state.
The study examines the issue of the acquisition of a princely title by Karl of Liechtenstein, which was granted to him in 1608 by the Austrian archduke, Hungarian king and Moravian margrave Matthias. In the first part, it focuses on the issue of the authority through which Matthias could award one of the highest aristocratic titles in the Holy Roman Empire including the Habsburg monarchy. A historical-legal, diplomatics and sigillography analysis of the origin of the princely privilege proves that Matthias did so in the form of an "usurpation" of the traditional imperial ennoblement right. The first part of the study simultaneously concerns the question of the historical circumstances which led to the Liechtensteins' titular elevation. In the second part of the study, the author indicates the efforts made by Karl of Liechtenstein, his brothers and especially Karl's descendants to gain for recognition of the princely title from the direct imperial power and its use for the acquisition of immediate imperial principality, which through the Liechtenstein primogeniture would ensure the exceptionally politically and socially prestigious membership of the collegium of the imperial princes. This aim was in fact fulfilled only in the first half of the 18th century by the purchase of the Schellenberg and Vaduz estates and their elevation to immediate imperial principality. Although the Liechtensteins were the first of a number of so-called new princes from the milieu of the Habsburg monarchy of the 17th century, as they strove to rise among the elite of imperial society they were overtaken by other new princes: the Wallensteins, Auerspergs, Lobkowitzs, Dietrichsteins and Schwarzenbergs.