Prince Hans-Adam Angers The German Jewish Community; Sept. 2008

[Marengo]

Prince Hans-Adam has been critisized by the german jewish community because in a letter to the Jewish museum in Berlin he spoke about the 'fourth reich', the letter was published later in the swiss newspaper 'Tages Anzeiger'.

In a letter to the Jewish museum Hans-Adam wrote that his principality has survived 3 german empires (reich) in the last 200 years. I hope we can add a fourth to that too, he added.

Eva Södermann, spokes person of the Jewish museum says that to call present germany a 'fourth reich' and to place it on equal setting with Hitler's Nazi Germany the atrocities of the third reich are marginalised.

In a reply Hans-Adam said it was never his intention to make a comparison to this part in German history, he just wanted to pay attention to the ex-propriation during the war.

The Jewish museum asked the prince if they were allowed to borrow a painting of Frans Hals for their exhibition, Hans-Adam refused as according to him Germany does not stick to international laws about borrowing of art.

Link in Dutch here.
Source: royalblog.nl

[Boris]

An additional aspect here is that the Jewish musuem asked to borrow a painting for their exhibition of 'booty art' - artwork which used to belong to Jewish citizens before they were dispossessed by the Nazis.
In one sweep, Prince Hans Adam not only refused the loan, but managed to open himself to criticism to trivialize the Nazi 'Third Reich' by comparing it to current Germany, he achieved that everyone may now wonder how he came into possession of former Nazi 'booty art' in the first place, and he made himself appear upset at Germany because of the ongoing investigation into his dubious financial dealings... all at once, in one official letter.
It's reported all over the serious press, and IMO it was a most ill-advised and incomprehensibly stupid move.

[Marengo]

From wtop.com:

Liechtenstein prince angers German Jews

By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press Writer

GENEVA (AP) - Germany's Jewish community sharply criticized Liechtenstein's head of state Thursday, accusing him of trivializing Nazi atrocities after his comments appeared to describe modern-day Germany as a "fourth" Reich.
It was the latest development in the fractious relations between the tiny Alpine principality and its much larger neighbor to the north.
In a letter sent by Liechtenstein's Hans-Adam II to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the prince declared that his nation "has already outlasted three German empires in the past 200 years.
"I hope we will also outlast a fourth," he added in the letter, which was reprinted in Thursday's edition of Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.
Germany was known as the Third "Reich" _ meaning third empire _ between 1933 and 1945 when Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party was in power and systematically persecuted Europe's Jews.

Read the entire article here.

The original article in the Tages-Anzeiger, here (in German only)

Another article from Deutsche Welle:

Liechtenstein Royal Backs Off German 'Fourth Reich' Comment

After prompting anger from Germany's Jewish community, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein withdrew remarks made earlier in which he had called Germany the "Fourth Reich."

German and Jewish critics alike disparaged the comparison between the modern, Federal German Republic and the "Third Reich" Nazi era of the 1930s and 40s.
The prince "did not intend in any way to trivialize the terrible events of the Third Reich in his private and personal letter" to the head of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the principality said in a press release.
Hans-Adam II had prompted anger among German and Jewish representatives after writing in a letter revealed Thursday by the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger that Liechtenstein already survived "three German Reichs," meaning three eras of attempted German domination in 200 years.

No more art loans for Germany
He hoped also to survive the "Fourth Reich," the prince had continued in his letter written in reply to a request by museum director Werner Michael Blumenthal, who had asked Hans-Adam II to loan him a picture for an exhibition.

Read the entire article here.


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Well Boris, the prince is not known to be diplomatic and he does have a temper but this was a rather odd thing to say indeed. I didn't know the Frans Hals painting was stolen by the Nazi's and later bought by the Liechtensteins though, do you know about which painting we are talking

[Boris]

I did some research and found out that the Frans Hals painting used to belong to Baron Louis Rothschild. In 1938, it was confiscated by the Nazis in Vienna. It was not returned to the Rothschilds until 1998, sold afterwards and bought by Prince Hans Adam at an auction.
The Liechtenstein ambassador in Germany tried his hand at damage control today, which is met with quite some sarcasm in the press – understandable IMO, since Prince Hans Adam additionally stated in his letter that "the longer Germany’s relationship to Lichtenstein lasts, the less Germany is willing to follow the principles of international law."
Very bad PR for Liechtenstein at a moment in time when they need it least, to put it mildly.
Link to a detailed article (in German):
http://www.faz.net/s/RubDDBDABB9457A437BAA85A49C26FB23A0/Doc~EC7675E34AC264E48BF77A2CEDA1DF7B4~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

[lucien]

News Summary Royalblog.nl: Prince Hans Adam in eye of German storm

courtesy Royalblog.

[Warren]

Obviously I'm reading it differently but to me the sentence "We've outlasted three German Empires in the last 200 years and I hope we will outlast a fourth" means that he hopes his country will survive intact well into the future. Maybe the inference was that the fourth Reich was the current German State but if that was his intent he was saying that he hoped Liechtenstein would outlast it too.

Whatever the case I'm surprised that the use of the word 'Reich' has apparently been added to the verboten or taboo list so that by using it Hans Adam is thereby "marginalising the atrocities" committed by the Nazis. That seems to be a very long bow to draw when he was emphasisng the past and future survival of his country.

[chaz]

There are some things that will never be forgiven. Murdering innocent People for the ideals of some crackpot philosophy, or because they belong to political parties that you hate. Cannot be forgiven eternally.

[Boris]

Warren, it's not a long bow to draw when the Prince's wording is interpreted as very intenionally aggressive.
It's a matter of language here; you translate and equal Reich with Empire, but that's not correct.
In German, as the Prince knows very well, the use of the word "Reich" has practically become obsolete apart from the historic context of the "Dritte Reich" which is Nazi Germany. The word "Reich" itself is not taboo, but strictly connected to Hitler's regime in today's language.
In German ears, his use of words in describing current Germany as the fourth reich is therefore obviously either degrading the present or cynically marginalising the past.
In the German original, there's no way that the quote can be interpreted as a neutral way of just putting his hope for the the survival of his own country into words, even when taken out of its context - and if you read it within the context of his additional remarks, it's even worse.
It's certainly no coinscidence that the Prince chose to vent his anger at Germany at the time of the investigations of Liechtenstein's financial politics.

[Warren]

Thanks for the explanation Boris. Indeed, to me Reich = Empire but I now understand that in today's usage it is not the case.

[Marengo]

This article in Dutch has a picture of the painting by Frans Hals.

In the mean time even BILD is writing about it, in English here and a longer article in German here.

[HRH Kerry]

So what's been going on in my absence?!

I understand where the sovereign prince was going with his statement but the use of Reich was just uncouth. But...at least the painting was returned by the family albeit 50 years later before it was legally sold.

(Kind of of puts you in mind of the land and property dispute with the Czech Republic. Same era/circumstances. Haven't heard anything on any further appeals though.)