Liechtenstein Church History

Liechtenstein

Religious History
Liechtenstein was largely untouched by the Reformation. It has always been part of the Catholic Diocese of Chur, in Switzerland. Important records were kept by Church officials concerning land, tax, court and other civil affairs. Early church records were begun in the 1560s, but most surviving records date from after the Thirty-Years War (1648).

The population of Liechtenstein today includes about 31,000 inhabitants, including over 12,000 resident foreigners, primarily from Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany. Church membership consists of 87% Roman Catholics, 9% Protestants, and 4% others. In 1880 the population of Liechtenstein was about 8,000, almost all were Roman Catholics. Primary emigration from Liechtenstein to the Americas occurred between the years 1880 and 1922.