Liechtenstein Ducal Hat Unsolved Mystery Since the 18th Century

Summary: The Liechtenstein ducal hat mystery involves a diamond, gold, pearl, ruby, velvet crown, missing since the 18th century, made for dukes and princes.

1756 gouache illustration of Liechtenstein ducal hat (Herzogshut) is the only known depiction of Liechtenstein's crown jewels; the ducal hat's last-known possessor was Prince Franz Joseph I (Nov. 19, 1726-Aug. 18, 1781), whose reign began Feb. 10, 1772;  Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, eastern Austria, holds the 1756 gouache: Gryffindor, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Liechtenstein ducal hat mystery approaches in 2018 the 237th to 262nd anniversary of its absence as the bejeweled headpiece of the princes of Liechtenstein and the dukes of Jägendorf and Troppau.

The 237th and 262nd anniversaries respectively bring up the last dates of the Liechtenstein ducal hat's viewing and the first for its absence from entailed collections. The 262nd anniversary commences from the conclusion of an artistic creation and a written composition concerning the Liechtenstein ducal hat and the other collected crown jewels. The 237th anniversary dates to the death of one prince whose lifespan drew together the depiction and description and the disappearance of the Liechtenstein ducal hat.

The Liechtenstein National Museum (Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum) exhibits a Liechtenstein ducal hat that entertains its 42nd, not its 392nd, anniversary in 2018 as a replica from 1976.

The book Liechtenstein: The Princely Collections by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art furnishes an image of the 262-year-old gouaches of the Liechtenstein ducal hat.

Online sources, such as the Luxarazzi article for Sep. 5, 2014, and the Wikipedia article on the missing Ducal Hat of Liechtenstein, give the same image. The artwork in opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a binding agent, online and published sources and the replica hold the likeness for posterity. The impression from the 262-year-old artwork, the 42-year-old replica and the 20th-century published and the 21st-century online sources is of a red, white and yellow headpiece.

The book, the gouache, the online sites and the replica jumble red for rubies, spinels and velvet, white for diamonds and pearls and yellow for gold.

Whoever knew or knows the whereabouts of the Liechtenstein ducal hat keeps or kept secret the means, motives and opportunities behind repurposed fabric, gems and metals.

Correspondence in the princely archives and the gouache respectively lists the commission and completion dates 1623 and 1626 and the Inventory number 360 Sep. 1, 1756. Karl I (July 30, 1569-Feb. 12, 1627), first prince of Liechtenstein and duke of Jägendorf and Troppau, mentioned the ducal hat and sword in his will. His son and successor, Karl Eusebius (April 11, 1611-April 5, 1684), noted the ducal sword as with him in Prague and in Schloss Feldberg in 1629.

The Liechtenstein ducal sword's last observation occurred in Schloss Feldberg, now Valtice, Czech Republic, in 1629 when the second prince obtained a case for the hilt.

The princely archives provide a third proof, in rings, of the passing and permanent possessions of the princes of Liechtenstein and dukes of Jägendorf and Troppau.

The gouache illustration of "the complete jewelry belonging to the Princely Liechtenstein Primogeniture" ("first-birth [male]") queued up three "finger" rings as items 6, 23 and 24. Correspondence in the princely archives reveals two of the three rings as missing by the time of Joseph Wenzel I's (Aug. 9, 1696-Feb. 10, 1772) death. The inventory after Franz Joseph I's (Nov. 19, 1726-Aug. 18, 1781) death stated that the Liechtenstein ducal hat was not in the ninth prince's entailed collections.

Who took the ducal sword, the Liechtenstein ducal hat and two "finger" rings out of the House of Liechtenstein's princely patrimony how, when, where and why?

Vaduz's Liechtenstein National Museum holds the 1976 replica of Liechtenstein ducal hat, which was presented by people of Liechtenstein, to Prince Franz Joseph II (Aug. 16, 1906-Nov. 13, 1989) for his 70th birthday; Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum (Liechtenstein National Museum), Vaduz, west central Liechtenstein; June 1, 2014: Gryffindor, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

1756 gouache illustration of Liechtenstein ducal hat (Herzogshut) is the only known depiction of Liechtenstein's crown jewels; the ducal hat's last-known possessor was Prince Franz Joseph I (Nov. 19, 1726-Aug. 18, 1781), whose reign began Feb. 10, 1772; Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, eastern Austria, holds the 1756 gouache: Gryffindor, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herzogshut_Liechtenstein_1756.jpg

Vaduz's Liechtenstein National Museum holds the 1976 replica of Liechtenstein ducal hat, which was presented by people of Liechtenstein, to Prince Franz Joseph II (Aug. 16, 1906-Nov. 13, 1989) for his 70th birthday; Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum (Liechtenstein National Museum), Vaduz, west central Liechtenstein; June 1, 2014: Gryffindor, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herzogshut_Liechtenstein_(1).JPG

For further information:

Dotson, Samuel C. 2003. Genealogie des Fürstlichen Hauses Liechtenstein Seit Hartmann II (1544-1585). Falköping Sweden: Rosvall Royal Books.

Kräftner, Johan; Isabel Kuhl eds. 2004. Liechtenstein Museum: The Princely Collections. Prestel Museum Guides. Munich, Germany; London, England; New York, NY: Prestel.

Liechtenstein: The Princely Collections. New York NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=A1f7lsIFyu0C&pg=PA31&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Svenja. 5 September 2014. "Luxarazzi 101: The Ducal Hat of Liechtenstein." Luxarazzi.
Available @ http://www.luxarazzi.com/2014/09/luxarazzi-101-ducal-hat-of-liechtenstein.html

Wilhelm, Gustav. 1960. "Der historische Liechtensteinische Herzogshut." Jahrbuch des Historischen Vereins für das Fürstentum Liechtenstein 60: 7-20.
Available via Liechtensteinische Landesbibliothek @ http://www.eliechtensteinensia.li/viewer/image/000000453_60/9/LOG_0006/