The Landtag, the brick parliament below the castle

I think the Landtag is one of the most curious visits in Liechtenstein and one of the most overlooked. It’s the parliament of an entire country, with 25 members, and you can sit in its gallery or in its chamber without paying, as long as you know how to ask. What the building tells you, on top of that, is half the country’s political history.

A parliament that waited a century and a half for a home

What I like most about the Landtag is its history of moving house. Its forerunner, the Diet of the Estates, met in the Verweserhaus, the old governor’s residence that today belongs to the National Museum of Liechtenstein. When the modern Landtag was born in 1862, its members spent five years meeting in an inn, the «Kirchthaler». In 1868 they moved into a building of their own on the Städtli, the Ständehaus, which later became a school and a library before being blown up in 1970. From 1905 to 2007 they sat in the chamber of the government building in Vaduz, the one decorated by Viennese artists.

Getting to today’s building took a while too. In 1993 voters rejected an earlier project, because of its cost according to the tourist board, and the Historical Lexicon records that the same year a public vote also sank the Ticino architect Luigi Snozzi’s plan for the whole quarter. His idea of building at the foot of the slope survived, and today’s building grew out of it.

Göritz’s building, brick and a steep roof

Ground was broken in 2002 and the Landtag opened in 2008. It’s the work of Hansjörg Göritz, a Hanover architect who also shaped the square in front. There are two parts. The Hohe Haus, the «high house», holds the chamber under its sharply pitched roof. The Lange Haus, the «long house», contains offices and archives.

I like the way it sits beside its neighbour. The palatial 1905 government building and this pale brick block have nothing in common, yet Peter-Kaiser-Platz works as a whole. The square is named after the historian Peter Kaiser, who in 1848 represented Liechtenstein at the National Assembly in Frankfurt.

Can you go inside the parliament of Liechtenstein?

Yes, in two ways. When parliament is sitting, sessions are public and you follow them from the visitors’ gallery, which can also be reached by lift. The agenda goes up on the Landtag website. The sittings left in 2026 are 30 September to 2 October, 4 to 6 November and 2 to 4 December.

Outside those dates you can request a guided tour by writing to [email protected]. You take a seat in the chamber of the Hohe Haus and hear how a sitting runs, the history of the Landtag, the architecture and the political system. There are no tours during sittings, so I’d ask for a date well ahead and outside those weeks. The website quotes no price for either. Every room is reachable by lift and there are accessible toilets, worth knowing if you have reduced mobility, and covered in more depth in my guide to accessible Liechtenstein.

What gets decided in there

You don’t need to follow politics to enjoy the visit, but three things help. The 25 members are elected every four years by proportional representation, 15 for the Oberland and 10 for the Unterland, the two historic halves of the country. The last election was on 9 February 2025. And the Landtag doesn’t govern alone, because the constitution anchors state power in both the Prince and the people. I explain it properly in my guide to Liechtenstein’s political system.

Fitting it into a day in Vaduz

The Landtag stands at the southern end of the Städtle, between the government building and the LandesMuseum, with St Florin’s Cathedral a step away. I’d put it at the start of the walk, before heading up the museum street, or save it for the time of your guided tour if you’ve booked one. Even with no sitting and no tour, I’d stand on the square for a few minutes and look up, because the brick parliament with the castle on the rock above it is the photograph that best sums up the modern principality. The Vaduz, Post stop is in the same quarter and there’s parking on Äulestrasse and in the two central car parks.