The Mitteldorf, the winegrowers' village still inside Vaduz

Most people passing through Vaduz never make it up here, which is a shame, because the Mitteldorf is what makes sense of the capital. This is the winegrowers’ village Vaduz was until the 20th century, with its garden walls, white houses and vines right up to the front door, only a few steps from the museum street.

The Vaduz that came before the banks

The Historical Lexicon describes old Vaduz as three pieces. The castle above. The lordly quarter below, where the government sits today. And in between, the farming village with its parts, the Städtli, Altabach, Metteldorf and Oberdorf. On the Städtli the houses lined the main road, but in the Metteldorf, the Mitteldorf of today’s maps, they lined the lanes that cut through the vineyards. That pattern is still there.

Wine was the village economy for centuries. The first written mention of a vineyard in Vaduz dates from 1249, and in 1808 there were about 16 ha of vines, with 113 of the 160 households owning a plot. The municipality sums it up by saying Vaduz was a farming village known for its wine before it became the office capital you see down the hill.

Why nobody builds here

What strikes me most about the Mitteldorf is a political decision. In the 1973 to 1976 town plan, most of the vineyards were moved from building land into a protected zone, despite objections, and since 1982 most of the vineyard has been under a 99-year building ban to preserve the look of the village. In a capital where land costs what it costs, that says a lot about what residents want to keep. It’s the reason you still see vines a few hundred metres from the centre. Back in 1808 the Prince’s estate was the largest vineyard owner, followed by the landlord of the Löwen inn, and the old court chaplaincies had plots too.

The Red House, the reason for the climb

In the middle of the quarter stands the Red House in Vaduz, the stepped-gable house with a tower that the Lexicon calls the capital’s second landmark. Its current look dates from 1902-1905, when Egon Rheinberger added the tower and linked it to the old wine press. It’s a private home, still lived in by the Rheinberger family, so you admire it from outside. From the lane below, with the vines in front, you get the postcard picture, castle on its rock behind.

On foot, by little train or on the Liechtenstein Trail

I’d walk it, heading up from the northern end of the Städtle, by Vaduz Town Hall, through the vineyard lanes. There’s no ticket office, no opening hours and no marked route, and that’s part of the appeal. I’d follow whichever lane climbs, keep the castle in view as a reference point and come back down a different way. Late in the afternoon, with the sun sinking over the Rhine valley, is when I’d most like to be here.

If you’d rather not walk, the Vaduz Citytrain runs through the Mitteldorf between 1 April and 31 October, at 13:00 and 16:30, stopping below the Red House for photos.

For keen walkers, stage 3 of the Liechtenstein Trail, from Vaduz to Nendeln, passes the Hofkellerei and the Red House before carrying on to Schaan. It’s a good way to leave Vaduz on foot without retracing your steps.

The wine that remains and where to taste it

For centuries the vines were mostly white, the Elbling, until the grape known locally as Blauburgunder, Pinot Noir, arrived in the 17th century and red gained ground. By 1875, 81.1% of the must was red. North of the centre, in the Herawingert, the Prince’s winery makes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the municipality looks after a wine teaching trail there whose panels reproduce a set of stamps. I’d round off the walk with a tasting at the Prince’s winery in Vaduz, at 15:00 on weekdays or 14:00 on Saturdays. For the bigger picture there’s my guide to Liechtenstein wine.

A little higher, in the Oberdorf, the municipality has restored the Hofstätte Hintergass 35/37, a winegrower’s house from 1494 counted among the oldest farmhouses in the country. It’s now let as a holiday home and its vaulted cellar is used by the Vaduz winegrowers’ cooperative, so I’d admire it from outside.