Liechtenstein: Prince Eugen turns 80!

Earlier this year, on March 20, Prince Eugen of Liechtenstein turned 80 years-old. His family will gather and celebrate his birthday later in June!

Prince Eugen was born in Mährisch-Sternberg, an estate owned by his father, Prince Johannes (1910-1975), who married Countess Karoline von Ledebur-Wichelm (1912-1996) at Mariaschein, Bohemia, in November 1936.

Once settled after their marriage, Prince Johannes and Princess Karoline set about building a family of their own. Four children would arrive in due time: Maria Eleonore (1937-2002), Eugen (b. 1939), Abrecht (1940-2017), and Barbara (b. 1942).

It is worth mentioning that Prince Johannes was the third son and namesake of Prince Johannes (1873-1959) who was married to Countess Marie Andrássy von Czik-Szent-Király u, Krasna-Horka (1886-1961), a lively lady who made the old imperial capital’s rumor mill work at full speed. Her granddaughter Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia described her as, “naughty, trouble-prone grandmama!” Interestingly, Prince Johannes Sr. was one of the siblings of Prince Aloys, who married Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria (a half-sister of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este). They in turn were the parents of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein, the late father of the current reigning prince, Hans-Adam II. Prince Johannes Jr., therefore, was a first cousin of Prince Franz Joseph II. Coincidentally, and increasing the proximity of Prince Johannes Jr.’s branch to the senior line of the Liechtenstein dynasty, his wife Princess Karoline’s eldest sister, Countess Henriette (1910-2002) married Count Ferdinand Kinsky v. Wchinitz u.Tettau (1907-1969). Their daughter, Marie-Aglaé married Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, the principality’s current sovereign prince.

Due to Czechoslovakia falling under Soviet control, the Liechtensteins lost all their property there. Prince Johannes and Princess Karoline were forced to pack just their essentials before heading to Austria with their four children in tow. They embarked on this dangerous trek in a bus that Prince Franz Joseph II had sent to Czechoslovakia to collect expelled relations. The Czech government was brutal and irrational when dealing with many of the old Austro-Hungarian aristocracy. In the end, many of them settled in and around Vaduz, the capital of the family’s principality, or around Austria.

After obtaining a degree in forestry engineering in Vienna, it came time for Prince Eugen of Liechtenstein to find a spouse. He chose Countess Maria Theresia von Goëß. Born in Ebenthal, Austria, in May 1945, as the first child of Count Leopold-Zeno von Goëß and of his wife Countess Theodora (Dora) Kottulinsky, a first cousin of the late Countess of Paris, Isabelle d’Orléans-Bragança. In fact, Dora Kottulinsky’s father was born Count Karl Kunata Dobrzensky v.Dobrzenicz, but assumed the title of Count Kottulinsky von Kottulin und Dobrzenicz in 1905 after being adopted by his aunt Theodora, Countess Kottulinsky v. Kottulin. Count Karl Kunata was married to Countess Maria Theresia von Meran, a Habsburg descendant. The Kottulinskys owned a vast estate named Chotebor, a property located southeast of Prague. Needless to mention, all these estates were lost when Czechoslovakia fell behind the Iron Curtain.

Prince Eugen married Countess Marie Theresia in Ebenthal, Austria, in July 1968. The couple had four children: Johannes (b. 1969), married to Countess Kinga Károlyi de Nagy-Károly (b. 1973); Anna (b. 1970), who married her second cousin Count Alexander Kottulinsky (b. 1967); Marie (b. 1974), married to Count Ferdinand v.u.zu Trauttmansdorf-Weinsberg (b. 1970); and Sophie (b. 1984), married to Count Clemens Hoyos (b. 1981). Their children have provided Prince Eugen and his wife more than a dozen grandchildren, with yet another grandchild on the way.

As his father had lost all property in Czechoslovakia, Prince Eugen and his siblings had to build their own lives. Eugen worked for a forestry conglomerate, Stanley Bostich, for more than 40 years. When not at work, he could be found hunting, his true and real passion. “If he could, my brother would hunt every day…he is a great shot and simply loves the sport,” remembers his sister Princess Barbara. “He hunts, travels, spends time with his children…they form a loving family circle, loves the grandchildren as well…can you imagine, his children all married wonderfully, something that doesn’t often happen nowadays, and they are all so loving, specially to their old aunt.”

Of the three siblings of Prince Eugen one remained unmarried, while the younger married: Princess Maria Eleonore was unmarried; Prince Albrecht married morganatically Tamara Nyman, who was created Baroness von Landskron (div. 1971) https://eurohistoryjournal.blogspot.com/2019/06/throw-back-thursday-marriage-in-las.html ; and Barbara, who in 1973 married Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1924-2016).

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