county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Vaduz
Origins
The county was created in 1342 when the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans divided their lands and Hartmann III took the territory around Vaduz on the right bank of the Rhine. In 1396 King Wenceslaus confirmed it as a direct fief of the empire, answerable only to the emperor.
Rule and society
Vaduz was a rural county of villages and alpine pastures, ruled from Vaduz Castle by its counts and their bailiffs. It passed to the barons of Brandis in 1416, to the counts of Sulz in 1510 and to the County of Hohenems in 1613. Witch trials under the Hohenems counts in the mid and late 17th century were so severe that the emperor intervened and removed the count in 1684.
Decline and legacy
The bankrupt Hohenems counts sold Vaduz in 1712 to Prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein, who had already bought the Lordship of Schellenberg. In 1719 Emperor Charles VI united the two as the Principality of Liechtenstein, of which Vaduz is the capital today.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- County of Vaduz was part of County of Hohenems1613 CE – 1712 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Vaduz. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-vaduz
- MLA
- “County of Vaduz.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-vaduz. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Vaduz.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-vaduz.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Vaduz’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-vaduz (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻