LA INSIDER
A royal engagement in the small and splendid country of LIECHTENSTEIN proved to be the perfect opportunity to experience the endearing culture of one of the world’s most majestic places
Lifestyle Asia’s Editor in Chief Dong Ronquillo gets an exclusive invite to the majestic country of Liechtenstein
Arriving in Zurich at the tail end of summer, I was blessed with a sunny day, which was perfect to walk around town and visit some museums. I have only been to Zurich once but was not able to explore it quite rigorously. I love going to Europe during summer between the months of July and September. It’s what I call my extended summer. My July trip to Europe was moved to September due to a work trip that coincided perfectly for this Liechtenstein press trip, in which I was the only one invited from the Philippines. The day after I arrived in Zurich, early in the morning at about eight o'clock, we took a bus to the city of Vaduz in Liechtenstein. It was a rainy day, which made the ride cold. Brimming with excitement, I wasn't able to sleep. Instead, I was able to admire the beautiful green and mountainous scenery. It was refreshing, as we drove through the landscapes of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
In between Austria and Switzerland, nestled among the Alpine mountains, lies a small country of Liechtenstein. For the well-traveled, you may have passed by this corridor shuttling in between Austria and Switzerland—but with a length of 25 kilometers and a total area of about 160 square kilometers (that’s just a little bit smaller than our own Quezon City), it’s almost a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of country.
But—and you probably saw this coming—I’m going to tell you that Liechtenstein is so much more than a pit stop between two territories. I visited the country and soon learned that it’s a picturesque skiing destination, home to two Michelin-starred restaurants, and a leading financial center in Europe. It is also home to international brands such as Swarovski and Hilti, amongst other famous ones. But I’ll get to all that later.
A LESSON ON LIECHTENSTEIN
First, a review of the country's history: Three hundred years ago, Liechtenstein gained its independence as a principality (They are celebrating their tricentennial anniversary this year; the reason for this trip). But the story of Liechtenstein begins much earlier than that: by the 12th century, much of Europe was ruled by various families, including the Princely House of Liechtenstein. They acquired the land which later became part of the Holy Roman Empire. The family actually hails from lower Austria and are primarily based there; in fact, no one from the family set foot in the territory until 1818. By the time the Nazis were invading Europe, the family had to vacate their palace in Vienna and move to
Liechtenstein. This was also the time they secretly moved their magnificent art collection into the castle of Vaduz.
Despite not having an actual presence in the land they owned until 200 years ago, they developed Liechtenstein to become one of the region’s most prosperous territories that Liechtensteiners can be very proud of. The family is incredibly adept and entrepreneurial, which has allowed them to build a highly prosperous country that even today stands as one of the world’s highest GDP per capita.
Currently, the country remains to be one of the few remaining ruling monarchies, where the Prince of Liechtenstein is the head of state. Technically, Liechtenstein is a principality under a constitutional monarchy and has a direct democracy. This means that the people of Liechtenstein still vote on important issues through referendums from things like tax reform to the construction of buildings.
They even had to vote to allow McDonald’s to build a restaurant in the city. Now, there is one branch of the franchise in the whole of Liechtenstein.
The country itself is very picturesque, straight out of a postcard. Liechtenstein lies in between the Rhein and the Alps with a cool climate and, as you can imagine for a country smaller than some cities, quite intimate. We stayed in the capital of Vaduz, in which the town center is condensed into one stretch of road. Along the street of Städtle and around the Peter-Kaiser-Platz are the town hall, the Liechtenstein Art Museum, the Parliament Building, and more spectacular edifices, all in a mix of modern and heritage architecture—there is no shortage of things to marvel at despite the land’s limited boundaries.
Practically everyone knows everyone, too; with a population that hovers just around 30,000 people, pretty much everyone is friendly and down-to-earth, including the princely family. Currently, they are not trying to grow the population to protect its natural resources, equilibrium, and also because of its small livable land.
THE ROYAL RENDEZVOUS
We visited the LGT bank, where Prince Philipp himself greeted us at the building lobby with no security whatsoever. This tells us how safe the country is. Impressive, a testament to
the country's zero crime rate. He gave each of us a firm handshake, formally welcoming us to Liechtenstein. We were taken to the boardroom where Prince Philipp gave us an introduction to the country, the Liechtenstein family, and the LGT bank.
To be honest, the Liechtenstein family is so modest in the way that they carry themselves. In fact, as we were heading into the Vaduz castle
(the official and actual residence of the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam 7 II), the prince’s younger brother Prince Philipp waved at us as he drove himself out to town in a common Audi car—the family doesn’t own Roll Royces, Bentleys, or private jets. One would not actually know that they were royals if you saw them on the street, or that they have several highly-successful businesses, including LGT, the biggest bank in Liechtenstein and one of the most well-regarded in the world. It’s also perhaps what many may call the country’s crown jewel. They have created the regal foundation to protect the family’s wealth, managing and growing the business. They have several companies that are part of the foundation. They are also active in agriculture and forestry through the Wilfersdorf Agriculture and Forestry and the Kalwang Forest and dabble in renewable energy and real estate management through
Palais Liechtenstein to manage the palaces. The Liechtenstein winery and Rice Tec are also some of the various companies of the princely family.
The Liechtenstein Global Trust or LGT is the core business of the princely family and the largest family-owned private banking group in the world. This high regard for LGT, which is chaired by
Prince Philipp, was cultivated by years of trust in the bank’s services by clients from Liechtenstein and all over the world. Its services include asset management of about 215 billion francs and private banking for individuals and institutional clients. Among their many entrepreneurial initiatives, the Liechtenstein family takes pride in LGT. Founded almost a hundred years ago in 1920, the royal family ensures that the reputation of its bank and the security of its clients are treated with care, not only because the family is a patron of its own establishment, but also just by principle. This makes the bank trustworthy and stronger than most publicly-listed companies. Actually, not known to many, the Liechtenstein family is considered to be the richest royals of Europe.
Apart from the family’s financial endeavors, which has really put Liechtenstein on the map as one of the world’s top banking and investment destinations, the Liechtensteins are also purveyors of art and culture. Over the years, the family has acquired a sizable collection of paintings and historical armament. We were very lucky to have given access, not just to see their collection in the Liechtenstein museum but also in their own home at the Vaduz castle. These are stored in various locations around Liechtenstein, including a storage facility, their two museums, and the Vaduz castle itself. In the Vaduz castle storage facility, vertical racks or drawers of sorts hold paintings upon paintings in carefully temperature-controlled rooms—going through the collections feels like touring Willy Wonka’s factory.
AT THE PALATIAL RESIDENCE
We were lucky enough to be invited into the Vaduz castle, and as amazing it was to see parts of the Liechtenstein art collection within the walls of a medieval castle, it was equally captivating to see some of the living spaces.
The castle was very homey. It was quite an experience to be in a place where the prince and his family actually live in.
Speaking of homey—on our first night, Prince Philipp hosted a dinner for us at Marée, one of the aforementioned Michelin-starred restaurants in Liechtenstein. The restaurant was housed in what otherwise looked like a warm, welcoming home, with the dining room enveloped in glass walls that allowed us to take in the surrounding view of the Alpine mountains. The menu, as expected, was nothing short of exceptional: salmon with carpaccio, tartare, tataki, and mustard mousse; a roasted swiss veal fillet with herb tale, broccoli, and oxtail jus; finished off with a white chocolate, peach, and thyme crème sorbet (and that’s just half of the menu).