Donnerstag, 28. April 2011

Liechtenstein: The Last Remaining Part of the Austrian Monarchy...



…of sorts. At the beginning of this month I attended a religious ceremony (my brother was made a Deacon of archbishop Haas) in that old and once useless and barren strip of land encircled by snow-capped Swiss mountains and the Rhine, frequented by kitschy sports-cars and suspicious banker-types. The ruling Prince being educated in Austria’s capital talks with a broad Viennese accent and has a couple of years ago received his people’s renewed vote (confirmation) to rule his country absolutely. His subjects are basically farmers who all got suddenly immensely rich by lending their addresses to foreign investors. Some- like 'farmer Ernst'- got a knack for it, and now he owns a bank called 'The Bank of Ernst'.

My mother and I had a blast- first we took some elegant cocktails basking in the sun enjoying the green-white-blue panorama and then we went to the museum where we were received with due ceremony by its obedient employees. Next day we attended said ecclesiastic rite and afterwards had a fun and drunken dinner with friends and relatives who had congregated there from all the neighbouring countries.

5 Kommentare:

Yankee-Whisky-Papa hat gesagt…

I like how you said "foreign investors"... The investors were first, but Lichtenstein had to later discourage "banking" from some of the world's nastiest criminals... many of whom would show up on said farmer's land by helicopter to negotiate the terms of the agreements personally.

v. Braun. hat gesagt…

Interesting, this whole banking-stuff is to me a book w. 7 seals anyway. When I was there I only heard that they also had suffered heavily from that financial crisis (*violin*) and that they are under heavy pressure from the EU to restrict the worst/'best' investment imbalances in relation to the other surrounding countries (minus Switzerland). Anyway, that's the official vers., in actuality I believe that they did some superficial redressing and still make tons of cash semper idem, like before.

Laguna Beach Fogey hat gesagt…

Even Bankers deserve a ,homeland.

Good to see you writing again.

Anonym hat gesagt…

Good to see you again
Oh that sounds like a wonderful time, I have the best evenings out with my friend who is a priest and canon lawyer, food and wine means everything to that set!

v. Braun. hat gesagt…

LBF: I am also looking forward to reading your musings again!

Tabitha: 'food and wine' or rather: 'the flesh and blood'? :p