The essay deals with the Czechoslovak state's measures put in place against the properties of the Liechtenstein primogeniture shortly after the liberation of the country in 1945. It analyzes the reasons behind these steps, which are apparent in the negative relationship the Czech society had towards to the family connected with events in Bohemia following the Battle of White Mountain (1620) but also in the treatment of the German speaking population in Bohemia after the Second World War (the transfer/expulsion of Germans). This all happened without regard for the foreign citizenship and status of the Liechtensteins as a ruling family in the independent Liechtenstein Principality that had remained neutral during the war. The author also links the implementation of the national administration to the post-war shift of Czechoslovak politics to the left and points to the communist-run Ministry of Agriculture, which had made the decision on the above measures. In large part the essay also deals with the defense of the Liechtensteins using diplomacy, especially to the role that Swiss diplomacy played as well as to the fruitless attempts made by the family to positively influence Czech administration.
This paper attempts to answer the question concerning the degree to which the position of serfs changed after the abolition of serfdom in Austria. Were the people in fact free as has been stated time and again in the history books and textbooks? Research into two Liechtenstein estates – the South Moravian domain of Břeclav/Lundenburg and the Lower Austrian estate of Wilfersdorf was used to analyse the factors behind personal freedom of movement after the abolition of serfdom. Could former serfs travel freely to other estates or abroad? This narrow study showed that this was not the case until the end of the pre-March period, i.e. after the end of patrimonial administration. These findings go against traditional interpretations. The abolition of serfdom was undoubtedly a step towards a modern society, but its implementation did not result in the end of control mechanisms, as they were replaced by others, and not only in the developing legal system. A lesser-known new factor from the period was the restriction of demesnial jurisdiction, which was placed under the control of the regional authorities. However, the period of reform did usher in a new phenomenon: the legal right of former serfs to protection against seignorial powers.
Profesor Thomas Winkelbauer of the University of Vienna is a respected historian of the Early Modern Age. His bibliography reveals that a large part of his research work focuses on the princely Liechtenstein family, both in his monographs (in particular Gundaker of Liechtenstein and Karl of Liechtenstein), as well as contextually (as part of the history of the aristocracy in the Early Modern Age and the wider context of Austrian history). Thomas Winkelbauer wrote an important monograph on Gundaker of Liechtenstein, to which he later added specialist studies and editorial sources. He uses this Austrian-Moravian to demonstrate how the world of the aristocracy worked in the Early Modern Age. He also examines the themes of religion and conversion as one of the decisive elements directly linked to the political rise of individuals and families in the Early Modern Age. It is also important to remember that for Winkelbauer, the Liechtensteins represent "the aristocracy which knows no bounds". All of these issues are also addressed in Winkelbauer's outstanding synthesis on Austrian history in the 16th and 17th centuries.