Exploring Liechtenstein: 5 books from the tiny state in the mountains

A list of books to read from Liechtenstein

The anthology Best European literature 2011, includes the short story Dust by Stefan Sprenger for Liechtenstein. Along with a wide range of other short stories from other interesting places. You could in fact cover most of Europe if you read the entire anthology!

Sprenger’s short story revolves around the question “Does dust have feelings?”, and that’s enough to have me intrigued. Also, this is one of the just two pieces of literature, I have found in English translation, written by authors native to Liechtenstein.

“A thicket, a manure pile, a marigold, gravel, a tomato, a cypress. Award-winning poet Michael Donhauser engages in a “close reading” of natural things. His emphasis is not so much on observation and depiction as on tracing the movement from object to language. His approach is multilayered, bringing a dazzling variety of perspectives scientific, philosophical, historical to his deeply felt encounters with nonhuman phenomena.”

This is the other one. I don’t usually read poetry, so I don’t usually include it in these lists, but since this author is in fact born in Liechtenstein I feel like this time I must. Maybe poetry is just your thing?

Another option would be the account of Liechtenstein national football team through their defeat-strewn qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup. Drawn in a group with Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria and mighty Spain, it was hard to see the principality’s part-time players scoring even one goal, never mind adding to its meagre international points total. So what motivates a nation of eleven villages to keep plugging away despite the inevitability of defeat?

Travelling to all of Liechenstein’s qualifying matches, Charlie Connelly examines what motivates a team to take the field dressed proudly in the shirts of Liechtenstein despite the knowledge that they are, with notably few exceptions, in for a damn good hiding.

Sampling the delights of Liechtenstein’s capital, Vaduz, such as the Postage Stamp Museum, the State Art Museum and, er, the Postage Stamp Museum again, Connelly provides an evocative and witty account of the land where every year on National Day the sovereign invites the entire population into his garden for a glass of wine.

If you’re interested in Liechtenstein’s history and royalty, this could be the one to go for. An extensive history of the royal family of Liechtenstein and how the principality came to be. The second part of the book is about Prince Hans-Adam II, the current Prince of Liechtenstein, and how he has contributed to the family wealth and success of the country.

Many fellow book-travellers have choosen to read this book to read from Liechtenstein, I think mainly because it is the first book that come up with the word “Liechtenstein” in the title when you start searching.

It is a sweet retelling of a Christian catholic legend, featuring a milking cow called Ludmila living in the mountains of Liechtenstein. The author is Italian-American, And that’s really all I have been able to uncover about this book.