Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein

Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein, born Franz de Paula Maria Karl August (Schloss Liechtenstein, 28 August 1853 – Feldsberg, 25 July 1938) was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1929 and 1938. He was the son of Aloys II of Liechtenstein and his wife Countess Franziska Kinsky. Franz succeeded his older brother Johann II, as Prince of Liechtenstein in 1929.

Franz I served as the Austro-Hungarian ambassador at the Court of Tsar Nicholas II in St. Petersburg between 1894 and 1899. As Prince of Liechtenstein, he continued the economic reforms initiated by his brother.

Like his brother Johann II, Franz I had no children. His first cousin once removed Prince Aloys was heir presumptive, but Aloys removed himself from the line of succession in favor of his son, Franz Josef, in 1921.

Franz I married Elisabeth von Gutmann (Vienna, 8 January 1875 – Vitznau, 28 September 1947), a noblewoman of Jewish descent, on 22 July 1929 in Vienna, without issue.

He was the 1,204th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria.

In March 1938 the elderly Franz I named Franz Joseph the country's regent. Although he cited old age as his reason for relinquishing his duties, it is widely believed that it was because he had no desire to be on the throne if Nazi Germany invaded his small Principality. Franz I died on 25 July 1938, and was formally succeeded by Franz Joseph, who became Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Ancestry