Czechoslovak–Liechtenstein relations in the shadow of the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, February 1948

Abstract

When in 1945 the Czechoslovak authorities confiscated the estate of the Princes von und zu Liechtenstein, the two countries became involved in a dispute which had not been resolved until recently, at least on a diplomatic level. For several decades, the 1948 Communist coup d'état in Czechoslovakia dashed the hopes of the Liechtenstein family for a restitution of their confiscated assets. However, officials responsible internally admitted that the property confiscation had been questionable in the case of the Liechtenstein family. The court had not confirmed the confiscation until after the Communist coup. However, the Liechtenstein family did not renounce their claims, and after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989 they brought them up again.

Keywords:

• Czechoslovak-Liechtenstein relations
• confiscation of the princely property
• Czechoslovakia 1945–1948

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Marija Wakounig (Vienna) and Jan Županič (Prague) for the valuable suggestions and support they provided me with during the development of this article. I also acknowledge the comments and suggestions of the anonymous readers of European Review of History. This article could not have been written without the support of the Czech Ministry of Education.

Notes

  1. Hilf, Deutsche und Tschechen. Bedeutung und Wandlungen einer Nachbarschaft in Mitteleuropa.

  2. Hoensch, Geschichte der Tschechoslowakei.

  3. Seibt, Deutschland und die Tschechen.

  4. Brandes, Der Weg zur Vetreibung 1938–1945.

  5. Staněk, Odsun Němců z Československa 1945–1947.

  6. Kuklík, Mýty a realita tzv. ‘Benešových dekretů’. Dekrety prezidenta republiky 1940–1945 [Myths and Reality of ‘Beneš Decrees’. Decrees of the President of the Republic 1940–1945].

  7. Konfliktní společenství, katastrofa, uvolnění. Náčrt výkladu německo-českých dějin od 19. století – Konflikt gemeinschaft, Katastrophe, Entspannung. Skizze der Darstellung der deutsch-tschechischen Geschichte seit dem 19. Jahrhundert.

  8. Vondrová, Češi a sudetoněmecká otázka 1939–1945. Dokumenty [Czechs and the Sudeten German Issue], 84–92.

  9. Kuklík, Mýty a realita tzv, 255–6.

 10. Cf. e.g., ‘Zpráva z domova o růstu nenávisti vůči Němcům’ [Report from inside the Country on Mounting Hatred of the Germans], 10 July 1944, No. 135, in: Vondrová, Dokumenty, 279.

 11. Memorandum československé vlády o transferu Němců z Československa [Memorandum of the Czechoslovak Government on the transfer of Germans from Czechoslovakia], in: Vondrová, Dokumenty, 303–8.

 12. Discussions were led on the number of victims after the war. I use the findings of the Czech-German commission of historians. Konfliktní společenství, katastrofa, uvolnění. Náčrt výkladu německo-českých dějin od 19. století – Konflikt gemeinschaft, Katastrophe, Entspannung, Skizze der Darstellung der deutsch-tschechischen Geschichte seit dem 19. Jahrhundert, 68–9.

 13. Kuklík, Mýty a realita, 278.

 14. Kuklík, Mýty a realita, 287.

 15. Marxer, ‘Liechtensteins Beziehungen zur Tschechoslowakei und zu deren Nachfolgestaaten seit 1945.’

 16. An interview with Prince Hans Adam II was published on 25 February 2010 on the website of the Czech magazine Instinkt. Available from: http://instinkt.tyden.cz/rubriky/rozhovor/hans-adam-ii-z-lichtenstejnu-monarcha-je-lepsi-nez-diktator_24983.html [Accessed 3 March 2010].

 17. Prince Hans Adam II has recently denied in a newspaper interview that he claimed compensation of one billion Swiss francs, but showed interest in a physical restitution of property. Ladislav Kahoun, ‘Hans Adam II. Nechci odškodnění, chci svůj majetek v ČR zpět’ [Hans Adam II: ‘I want no compensation. I want my Czech property back’] Britské listy, 26 April 2006. Available from: http://www.blisty.cz/art/17121.html.

 18. Rob Cameron, ‘Liechtenstein, Czech Republic establish relations after long property dispute,’ Český rozhlas 7 [Czech Radio 7]. Available from: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/liechtenstein-czech-republic-establish-relations-after-long-property-dispute.

 19. Geiger et al. , Questions concerning Liechtenstein during the National Socialist Period and the Second World War. More attention to the Prince´s activities in the Protectorate was paid in: Lussy and López, Liechtensteinische Finanzbeziehungen zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, 283ff. Unfortunately, both historians did not conduct their research in any of the Czech archives; notwithstanding, their study is valuable mainly because of their access to the Prince´s private archives.

 20. I was informed of this in an e-mail of 5 March 2007 from Mrs Bettina Marxer of the Fürstlich Liechtensteinische Kabinettskanzlei. In Liechtenstein, there is no legal obligation inherent in private archives, such as those of the Prince, to allow access and research to anybody.

 21. For instance, the funds of the government presidium, of the majority of ministries, and of the Supreme Administrative Court (hereafter NSS).

 22. Cf. e.g. Županič, ‘Die Familie Colloredo-Mannsfeld während des Zweiten Weltkrieges’; Jelínková, ‘Příběh rodiny Hugo Salm-Reifferscheidta. Příspěvek ke konfrontaci šlechty s totalitními režimy,’ 42–68.

 23. Glassheim, Noble Nationalists.

 24. Vaculík, Komunistická perzekuce šlechty [Communist Persecution of Aristocracy]. Vaculík's study (133 pages) lacks footnotes and is not a scientific study.

 25. Vaculík, Komunistická perzekuce šlechty [Communist Persecution of Aristocracy], 107. It concerned namely the property of Swiss citizen baron Rudolf Geymüller in Southern Bohemia.

 26. A majority of Czech princely families declared German nationality in 1930. Županič, Encyklopedie knížecích rodů zemí Koruny české [Encyclopaedia of Princely Families of the Crown Lands of Bohemia].

 27. Županič, Encyklopedie knížecích rodů, 247.

 28. Vilím and others, draft law, 22 February 1947, Liechtensteinisches Landesarchiv Vaduz (thereafter LLA), Box V 143/106. Head of the branch, Dr. Adolf Schwarzenberg was in the population census in 1930 in his absence declared by the clerk as of German nationality.”

 29. Vilím et al., draft law, 22 Feb. 1947, Liechtensteinisches Landesarchiv Vaduz (hereafter LLA), box V 143/106. Head of the branch, Dr Adolf Schwarzenberg, was declared of German nationality in his absence by the clerk in the population census in 1930.

 30. Law on property transfer of the Frauenberger branch of the Schwarzenberg family to Czech Land (No. 143/1947 of the Code) was passed by the Constituent National Assembly on 10 July 1947. Cf. Available from: http://www.psp.cz/eknih/1946uns/stenprot/065schuz/s065001.htm [Accessed 11 June 2010].

 31. Aktennotiz für Prinz Karl Alfred, 3 June 1947, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/40.

 32. Resümee aus dem Gutachten des Universitäts-Professors JUDr. Jaromír Sedláček, in deutscher Übersetzung, without date and number, LLA, box V 143/59.

 33. After the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia, Austrian law remained valid with only a few exceptions.

 34. Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry to the presidium of the ministerial council, etc., 29 March 1923, no. 53.195/III/23, National Archives Prague (thereafter NAP), JAF 832, box 1700. Prince Karl von und zu Liechtenstein was after the Battle of White Mountain Bohemian Governor and Chairman of the Judicial Tribunal, which rendered judgement on the leading participants of the Bohemian rebellion.

 35. Pekaamp;#x159;, Omyly a nebezpečí pozemkové reformy [Mistakes and Dangers of the Land Reform], 77.

 36. Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry to the Czechoslovak Finance Ministry, 12 May 1924, no. 33.193/III/24, NAP, JAF 832, box 1700.

 37. Memorandum über die Frage der Enteignung Fürst Liechtensten´schen Grundbesitzes in der Tschechoslowakei, 29 May 1945, LLA, box V 143/32. The officials of the Principality estimated the indemnity for the expropriated farmland amounted to only about one-fifth to one-fourth of its actual market price, and to about a third for the forests. Overall, the state was to pay in various forms approximately CZK 121,336,800.

 38. Foreign Ministry to the Ministry of Justice, 26 April 1938, no. 54.017/VI – 3/38, NAP, JAF 832, box 1700.

 39. Presidium of the Ministerial Council to the offices of all ministries and to the Supreme Accounting Review Office, 30 July 1938, no. 5914/466/S- 38 m. r., NAP, JAF 832, box 1700.

 40. Karl Alfred to K. H. Frank, 6 Dec. 1938, no. missing, LLA, box V 13/6. See Geiger, Krisenzeit. Liechtenstein in den Dreissigerjahren 1928–1939, vol. 2, 242–8.

 41. Dieckhoff to the Land Office (Bodenamt) Prague, 24 Jan. 1940, no. missing, LLA, box V 13/12.

 42. Karl Alfred to the Chief of the Land Office (an den Kommissarischen Leiter des Bodenamtes), 23 Dec. 1941, no. Z. 7652 S. D./Ch, LLA, box V 13/13.

 43. Lussy and López, Liechtensteinische Finanzbeziehungen zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, 304 ff.

 44. Geiger, Kriegszeit. Liechtenstein 1939–1945, 2: 236.

 45. Geiger, Questions concerning Liechtenstein during the National Socialist Period and the Second World War, 241–6.

 46. For example, in the case of Countess J. Podstatzky-Lichtenstein, who has been reproached for the payment of contributions to Bund deutscher Osten. Jelínková, ‘Příběh rodiny Hugo Salm-Reifferscheidta. Příspěvek ke konfrontaci šlechty s totalitními režimy’ [History of the Family Hugo Salm-Reifferscheidt. A Contribution to Confrontation of Aristocracy and Totalitarian Regimes].

 47. Denkschrift in der Angelegenheit der liechtensteinischen Besitzungen i. d. ČSR, 22–28 June 1945, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/62.

 48. Wilhelm, ‘Der Weg der Liechtenstein-Galerie von Wien nach Vaduz.’

 49. Protokoll über eine Besprechung im Schloss Vaduz, 3 July 1945, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/80.

 50. I have dealt with the matter of confiscation in 1945 in my article ‘Die Tschechoslowakei und die Enteignungen nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg: Der Fall Liechtenstein.’

 51. Collection of Laws and Regulations of the Czechoslovak state 5, part 4, 23 May 1945 and Collection … 12, part 7, June 23, 1945.

 52. Kuklík, Mýty a realita tzv. ‘Benešových dekretů,’ 298.

 53. Interior Ministry, 25 Aug. 1945, memo no. 5, LLA, box 143/34.

 54. Kuklík, Mýty a realita tzv. ‘Benešových dekretů,’ 306.

 55. Agriculture Ministry, Bescheid, 26 June 1945, no. Z. 20.037-V/1/1945LLA, box V 143/33.

 56. DNC in Olomouc, Kundmachung, 30 July 1945, LLA, box 143/80.

 57. Interior Ministry to the Agriculture Ministry, 25 June 1945, no. 11867/A/1945, NAP, MV-NR, box 2419.

 58. This fact is stated in the draft resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court (thereafter NSS), 10 Dec. 1948, no. 220/46/4NAP, JAF 470, box 533.59.1. Populations census 1./2. Dec. 1930, Velké Losiny (Gross Ullersdorf), house number 268, NAP, box 7900.

 59. Prince Karl Alfred to the Agriculture Ministry (Prague), 27 Nov. 1945, no. missing, LLA, box 143/80.

 60. Liecht. Legation Bern to Eidgenössisches Politisches Department (thereafter EPD), 17 Dec. 1945, no. 1149, LLA, box V 143/80.

 61. Konferenz auf Schloss Vaduz, 14–18 April 1947, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/75. The conference where the above-mentioned statement was pronounced was attended by the Prince, three other family members and the Prince's clerks and lawyers.

 62. The circumstances of the imposition of national administration and confiscation cf. Václav Horčička, ‘Die Tschechoslowakei und die Enteignungen nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg: Der Fall Liechtenstein.’

 63. DNC in Hodonín, regulation, 1 Aug. 1945, no. 9.019-X, NAP, JAF 470, box 534.

 64. DNC in Česká Lípa, Kundmachung, 20 Sep. 1945, LLA, box V 143/48. In this case, it concerned the property of the Princes Johann and Emmanuel Liechtenstein.

 65. DNC in Litovel, regulation, 8 Aug. 1945, no. 404/25 – VIII – 20NAP, JAF 470, box 534.

 66. Interior Ministry, 25 August 1945, memo no. 5, LLA, box 143/34.

 67. Sobička NSS, 8 May 1946, no. missing, NAP, JAF 470, box 534. In Czechoslovakia at this time, domestic law had primacy over international law.

 68. Legal analysis concerning the imposition of national administration and confiscation of the farm and forest land of Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein, 7 Nov. 1945, NAP, JAF 832, box 1700.

 69. Besprechung im Hotel Ambassador vom 5 Nov. 1947, LLA, box 143/75. For instance, article 34 of the UNO Charter (endangering the maintenance of international peace) could be considered.

 70. Sobička to Karl Alfred, 12 Oct. 1945, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/80.

 71. PNC in Brno to Franz Josef II, 16 Jan. 1946, no. 86/VIII/26—46, NAP, MV-NR, box 2419.

 72. Interior Ministry, Confiscation of farmland estate of the Liechtenstein family in accordance with Decree No. 12/1945 Coll., 1947, date missing (1947), no. B – 2621/8 – 15/9-47-II/b, NAP, MV-NR, box 2419.

 73. Agriculture Ministry, minutes of meeting, 30 Oct. 1946, no. missing, NAP, JAF 832, box 1700.

 74. Legal analysis concerning the infliction of national administration and confiscation of the farm and forest land of Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein, 7 Nov. 1945, no. missing, NAP, JAF 832, box 1700. The regulation stated, among other things, that the allegedly escaped German directors of the central head office of the administration of the Liechtenstein estate, with headquarters in Olomouc, still exercised influence over the remaining Czech clerks, which was allegedly obvious from the fact that a local trade-union committee had not yet been established. Agriculture Ministry, Bescheid, 26 June 1945, no. Z. 20.037-V/1/1945, LLA, box V 143/33.

 75. Legal commission of the Foreign Ministry, an opinion, 13 Aug. 1949, no. 333.695/49 C III., Archives of Czech Foreign Ministry (thereafter AMZV), TO-T, III. Dept., box 2.

 76. Sobička to Prince Karl Alfred, 7 Aug. 1945, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/106.

 77. Schmid, 12 Feb. 1946, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/8.

 78. Presidium of ministerial council to the offices of all ministries and to the Supreme Audit Review Office, 30 July 1938, no. 5914/46/S – 38 m.r., NAP, JAF 832, box 1700. Switzerland took over the representation of Liechtenstein abroad in October 1919. Cf. Quaderer, ‘Ein “Annex Österreichs” oder ein souveräner Staat? Liechtensteins Beziehungen zur Tschechoslowakei nach dem ersten Weltkrieg.’

 79. Späti, Die Schweiz und die Tschechoslowakei 1945–1953. Wirtschaftliche, politische und kulturelle Beziehungen im Polarisationsfeld des Ost-West-Konflikts, 593–4.

 80. MZV to Kopecký, 25 May 1946, no. missing, AMZV, TO-T III., box 2.

 81. Masaryk to Girardet, 25 June 1946, no. 78.818/VI/46, LLA, box V 143/40.

 82. EPD to Liechtenstein Legation Bern, 13 Feb. 1947, no. B. 24 Liecht. L.U. Ch. Tch., LLA, box V 143/40.

 83. EPD to Liechtenstein Legation Bern, 6 July 1946, no. B. 24. Liecht. 40 – WF., LLA, box V 143/106.

 84. Resolution of the governments of Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic, 13 July 2009. Available from: http://www.llv.li/rss/llv-rfl-praesidium-aktuelle_themen_liechtenstein_und_ die_tschechische_republik.htm; INTERNET, [Accessed 18 July 2009].

 85. Liecht. govt. to Liecht. Legation Bern, 22 Feb. 1947, no. missing, LLA, box RF 240/359.

 86. Späti, Die Schweiz und die Tschechoslowakei, 594–5. The question was re-opened in 1949 on the occasion of further Czechoslovak–Swiss talks on indemnities. Prague again strictly rejected Liechtenstein claims. Švajčiarsko – rokovanie o náhradách za znárodnenie, 21 Oct. 1949, no. 144.594/49, AMZV, TO-O 1945-59 Switzerland, box 7.

 87. Karl Alfred to Franz Josef II, 2 December 1946, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/106. Cf. Loewenfeld, ‘The Protection of Private Property under the Minorities Protection Treaties.’

 88. Loewenfeld considered as the Crown Estate's all Liechtenstein estate in the Czechoslovak Republic, while some of the Principality lawyers considered only a part of it (about 25%) as such, namely the part that was originally offered to the Liechtenstein dynasty by the Emperor as feudal tenure of the Bohemian Crown. Otherwise, the feudal-tenure character of the property could bear unpleasant consequences for the dynasty, as Dr Sobička warned. Cf. Sobička to Franz Josef II, 22 May 1947, LLA, box V 143/82.

 89. Besprechung im Hotel Ambassador (Prague), 5 Nov. 1947, LLA, box V 143/75.

 90. Weyr, Nachtrag zum Rechtsgutachten betr. Krongutcharakter der Liechtensteinischen Besitzungen in der ČSR etc., 12 Aug. 1947, LLA, box V 143/75.

 91. Weyr, Counsel´s opinion on governmental encroachment on the Liechtenstein Estate, 20. Aug. 1945, LLA, box V143/37.

 92. Karl Alfred L. to Heinrich L., 11 Nov. 1947, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/55.

 93. Loewenfeld to Helbig, 8 Jan. 1948, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/56. Switzerland was convinced the arbitration treaty was still valid.

 94. Aktennotiz für Prinz Karl Alfred, 3 June 1947, no. missing, LLA, box 143/40.

 95. Konferenz auf Schloss Vaduz, 15–25 July 1947, LLA, box V 143/75.

 96. Konferenz auf Schloss Vaduz, 15–25 July 1947, LLA, box V 143/75

 97. Niederschrift über die am 13. Sept. 1947 auf Schloss Vaduz stattgefundene Besprechung, LLA, box V 143-75, LLA, box V 143-75.

 98. Agriculture Ministry, an entry, 19 Aug. 1947, annexe to no. 73061/47-IX/A-22, NAP, Ministry of Justice, box 1700.

 99. Ministry of Justice, pro domo, 2 Sept. 1947, no. 57.630/1947-III/3, NAP, Ministry of Justice, box 1700.

100. Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry (Štrup) to the Agriculture Ministry, 12 Sept. 1947, no. 188.630/VI-5/47, NAP, Ministry of Justice, box 1700.

101. Späti, Die Schweiz und die Tschechoslowakei, 598.

102. EPD to Liecht. legation Bern, 7 June 1948, no. p. B. 24 Licht. – LP/YW, LLA, box V 143/56.

103. Budník, résumé, 15 Nov. 1947, no. missing, NAP, Ministry of Justice, box 1700.

104. Atteslander to Prince Heinrich, 19 Feb. 1948, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/44.

105. They were the adviser Feigl and director Novák, who came to Switzerland on the occasion of the signing of an unspecified licence contract.

106. Aktennotiz, Besprechung mit Herrn Feigl und Direktor Novak, 22 Jan. 1948, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/56.

107. The bureaucracy of the Principality estimated the value of the confiscated property (exclusive of objects d'art and some other assets) at approximately 350 million Swiss francs. Schreiber to Karl Alfred, 29 April 1949, no. missing, LLA, box V 13/19.

108. Aktennotiz, Besprechung mit Herrn Feigl und Direktor Novak, 22 Jan. 1948, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/56.

109. Protokoll der Sitzung vom 1. März 1948, 5 March 1948, no. missing, LLA, box V 143/56.

110. The party was not linked to NSDAP ideology. In 1948 it changed its name to ‘Czechoslovak Socialist Party’.

111. Ministry of Justice, 18 Nov. 1947, no. 70.488NAP, Ministry of Justice, box 1700.

112. Agriculture Ministry to NSS, 22 June 1948, no. 37.245/48-IX/ Z1, NAP, NSS, box 544.

113. NSS, proposal, probably 1946, no. 138/46, 244/46, 245/46, 246/46, NAP, NSS, box 530.

114. NSS, 8 June 1949, no. 138/46-4, NAP, NSS, box 530.

115. NSS, 21 Nov. 1951, no. 138/46-5, NAP, NSS, box 530.