Prince Eduard of Liechtenstein

Prince Eduard of Liechtenstein (Eduard Viktor Maria; 2 September 1872 – 8 March 1951) was the son of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Countess Anna of Degenfeld-Schonburg. He was a civil servant in Austria and a prominent diplomat in Liechtenstein.

Early life Eduard was born on 2 September 1872 in Ljubljana (now in Slovenia) as the second son of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Countess Anna Gräfin of Degenfeld-Schonburg. He was the grandson of Prince Eduard Franz of Liechtenstein, brother of Aloys II, Prince of Liechtenstein.

He spent his early childhood in Berlin and from 1881 to 1891 attended high school in Vienna and Kalksburg. Until 1898 he studied law in University of Vienna, Freiburg, Graz and Innsbruck respectively, where he received a diploma.

Career In 1897 Eduard entered the Austrian administrative service, which he served in the state of Salzburg and also as district captain of Mariánské Lázně. In addition, he worked in the Austrian Ministry of the Interior. There we plans for him to be appointed mayor of Salzburg in 1913, but this did not see through. In the wake of the beginning of World War I he was appointed to manage the war relief office, where is commitment to humanitarian issues led him to being appointed to the Ministry of Social Welfare in 1918. On 26 May 1918, he left the civil service and became president of the General Pension Fund for Employees and board member of the Allgemeine Bodencreditanstalt until the end of 1918. He wanted the legation to lead the country's foreign policy, against the desire of the Christian-Social People's Party. In 1923, due to the Christian-Social People's Party now being in power, the Liechtenstein legation in Vienna was closed.

Eduard played a key role in negotiations between Liechtenstein and Switzerland for forming closer economic ties, which cultivated in a customs union being formed between the two countries in 1924. Though he was personally criticized by political figures such as Ferdinand Nigg in the Liechtensteiner Vaterland. Order of the Iron Crown War Cross for Civil Merits Order of Franz Joseph (1918) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Order of St. Gregory the Great (1913) Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (3 September 1908)