Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein


Johann Nepomuk Karl was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1732 and 1748.

Early life

He was the son of Joseph Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein and his second wife, Countess Maria Anna Katharina of Oettingen-Spielberg.

Career

When his father died, Johann Nepomuk Karl was only eight and his uncle Josef Wenzel ruled as regent and took care of his nephew's education, preparing him for his future role. When Johann Nepomuk Karl took over the rule of his domains alone in 1745, it seemed that his uncle had taught him nothing, because the prince soon neglected the government and otherwise had seen little economic success.
Because of the evident inability of the prince, a royal Hungarian and Bohemian royal chamberlain was appointed to rule. The prince died shortly afterwards in 1748 at Wischau aged 24 years, being the youngest Prince of Liechtenstein to die. Upon his death, he was succeeded by Joseph Wenzel I.

Personal life

In Vienna on 19 March 1744 Johann Nepomuk Karl married his cousin Maria Josepha, Countess of Harrach-Rohrau, daughter of Count Friedrich August von Harrach-Rohrau and his wife, Princess Maria Eleonora of Liechtenstein. They had three children:
The Prince died on 22 December 1748. His widow, Maria Josepha, died on 15 February 1788.Evelin Oberhammer : Der ganzen Welt ein Lob und Spiegel, Das Fürstenhaus Liechtenstein in der frühen Neuzeit. Publisher of history and politics/R. Oldenbourg ed., Vienna/München 1990.

Descendants

Through his only surviving child Princess Maria Antonia, he was posthumously a grandfather of Karl, 3rd Prince Paar, who married Countess Guidobaldine von Cavriani. They were the parents of, among others, Karl, 4th Prince Paar, who married Princess Ida Leopoldine Sophie Marie Josephine Franziska of Liechtenstein.