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Vaduz (; German: [faˈduts] ⓘ; High Alemannic: [faˈdot͡s]) is the capital of Liechtenstein and also the seat of the national parliament. The town, which is located along the Rhine, has 5,696 residents. The most prominent landmark of Vaduz is Vaduz Castle, perched atop a steep hill overlooking the town. It is home to the reigning prince of Liechtenstein and the Liechtenstein princely family. The town's distinctive architecture is also displayed in landmarks such as the Cathedral of St. Florin, Government House, Town Hall, the National Art Gallery, as well as the National Museum. Although Vaduz is the best-known town in the principality internationally, it is not the largest; neighbouring Schaan has a larger population.
The name Vaduz had been first recorded as de Faduzes. The name of the settlement, like most other towns in the Rhine Valley region, is of Romance origin. The name can be traced back to Old Rhaeto-Romance root auadutg 'aqueduct', which in turn evolved from the Latin aquaeductus.
Vaduz is mentioned in historic 12th-century manuscripts as Faduzes. In 1322 a mention of the castle is made, which was sacked by the Swiss in 1499 during the Swabian War. The entire village was also destroyed.
In the 17th century the Liechtenstein family was seeking a seat in the Imperial diet, the Reichstag. As they did not hold any territory that was directly under the Imperial throne they were unable to meet the primary requirement to qualify.
The family yearned for the added power a seat in the Imperial government would bring, and therefore sought to acquire lands that would be reichsunmittelbar, or held directly from the Holy Roman Emperor himself, without any intermediate feudal patronage. After some time, the family was able to arrange the purchase of the minuscule Herrschaft ("Lordship") of Schellenberg and the countship of Vaduz (in 1699 and 1712, respectively) from the Hohenems. Tiny Schellenberg and Vaduz possessed exactly the political status required: no feudal lord other than the Emperor.
Thereby, on 23 January 1719, after the purchase had been duly made, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed Vaduz and Schellenberg were united, and raised to the dignity of Fürstentum (principality) with the name "Liechtenstein" in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein". It is on this date that Liechtenstein became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman Empire. As testimony to the pure political expediency of the purchases, the Princes of Liechtenstein did not set foot in their new principality for over 120 years.
Vaduz is located in the Oberland electoral district, which has fifteen seats in the Landtag of Liechtenstein. Since the introduction of Liechtenstein municipal law of 1864, Vaduz has been locally administered by a mayor and municipal council. Until 1941, this consisted of the mayor, the municipal treasurer, and seven other councillors.
In 1974, the municipal law was revised which extended the term of the mayor and council to four years and increased the seats of Vaduz's municipal council to twelve. The system to elect the municipal council was changed to use an open list proportional representation system. In 1976, Vaduz replaced universal male suffrage with universal suffrage. Universal suffrage was not introduced to Liechtenstein on a national level until 1984.
The incumbent mayor is Florian Meier, elected in the 2024 Vaduz mayoral by-election.
Vaduz features an oceanic climate with warm summers and chilly winters. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as Marine West Coast Climate (Cfb). The village experiences a noticeable increase in precipitation during the summer, but in general all twelve months see some precipitation. Vaduz receives, on average, approximately 900 mm (35 in) of precipitation per year.
Vaduz's warmest month, July, sees average high temperatures reach 25 °C (77 °F) while average low temperatures are about 14 °C (57 °F). The village's coldest month, January, sees average highs of 3 °C (37 °F) and average lows of −3 °C (27 °F).
Vaduz Castle is the home of the reigning prince of Liechtenstein and the Liechtenstein princely family. The castle is visible from almost any location in Vaduz, being perched atop a steep hill in the middle of the town. The Cathedral of St. Florin, Government House and Village Hall display the various styles and periods of architecture in the town. Schalun Castle is located in the municipality, to the northeast of Vaduz.
As of 2019, 5,696 people lived in Vaduz. Foreigners resident in the town make up 42% of the population. With 67% the population is predominantly Roman Catholic, while the percentage of Catholics is significantly higher among residents with Liechtenstein nationality (81%) than among foreigner residents (47%). The largest minority religions in the town are Protestantism (10%) and Islam (8%).
The National Art Gallery as well as the National Museum are located in Vaduz. The art gallery (Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein) is a museum of modern and contemporary art, and also shows displays from the private princely Liechtenstein Collection, the main public display of which is in Vienna. The building is an architectural landmark built by the Swiss architects Morger, Degelo and Kerez. It was completed in November 2000 and forms a "black box" of tinted concrete and black basalt stone. The museum collection is also the national art collection of Liechtenstein. The Liechtenstein National Museum is showing a permanent exhibition on the cultural and natural history of Liechtenstein as well as special exhibitions. There are also the Postage Stamp Museum and a Ski Museum. Vaduz has a kind of folksong that has been greatly influenced by Switzerland, known as Köpugeäng.
Vaduz is one of the few capital cities in the world to not have an airport. The closest major airport is Zurich Airport; smaller airports in St. Gallen-Altenrhein and Friedrichshafen also provide access to Vaduz. By car, Vaduz is directly accessible via the A13 motorway in Switzerland, or via the A14 motorway in Austria. Vaduz is connected to Switzerland over the Rhine river by the Vaduz–Sevelen footbridge, or the Werdenberger-Binnenkanal bridge for motor vehicles, which was opened in 1975. Buses can be taken from Buchs, St. Gallen, Sevelen and Feldkirch into Vaduz. These buses typically run every 20 to 40 minutes and are operated by LIEmobil.
Schaan-Vaduz railway station, located in Schaan, is the closest railway station to Vaduz. The station is situated on the Feldkirch–Buchs railway, Liechtenstein's only railway line, and is served by the S2 of the Vorarlberg S-Bahn, which is operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). It was opened on 24 October 1872 by agreement with Austria-Hungary and Switzerland. There have been attempts to expand the rail network to connect with Vaduz, though these have been unsuccessful.
Vaduz has two primary schools: Äule Primary School, near the Vaduzer-Saal; and Ebenholz Primary School, near the University of Liechtenstein, which is also located in the town. Both schools have the same secretariat and administration. The school assignments of children are largely determined by their street addresses. There are four kindergarten sites, of the Kindergarten Bartlegrosch, in Vaduz.
Realschule Vaduz and Oberschule Vaduz are in the Schulzentrum Mühleholz II in Vaduz. Liechtensteinisches Gymnasium is also located in Vaduz. Realschule Schaan and Sportschule Liechtenstein are in nearby Schaan.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Vaduz”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.