No! Liechtenstein’s not selling out in the way some might have suspected (or hoped) – especially with all the media ruckus over the recent Liechtenstein affair.

In case you missed it, last month the German government illegally bribed an ex-bank employee to turn over a list of alleged German bank account holders at the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein. That’s the bank owned by the principality’s royal family. Read the full story here.

But there may be an indirect connection. After the gross German insult, (Is there any other kind?), to Liechtenstein’s sovereignty, Crown Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein canceled plans to loan royal family artworks to Munich’s Neue Pinakothek museum because of Germany’s criminal acts.

At the time, the Crown Prince criticized German authorities, calling its intelligence methods and bribes an “attack” on the principality. “Germany has clearly failed to understand how one behaves toward a friendly state,” Alois said.

But now comes the news that Liechtenstein’s ruling family is clearing its castles of all extra items. The royal family is selling off as much as €2.5 million euros (US$4 million) of unwanted furniture, objets d’art and paintings today in an attic sale organized by Christie’s International in Amsterdam.

The principality’s head of state, Prince Hans-Adam II, is selling 463 lots including porcelain, sculptures and 16th century Venetian bronzes. A pair of wooden 17th-century library globes made for the Dutch East India Company went for €680,000 euros, (US$1.61 million). The estimate before the sale was €300,000 euros (US$471,000).

“I now face the same problem as some of my predecessors. There is just not enough room to either exhibit all those works of art in the museum or to use them for decoration purposes in our private apartments,” the 15th reigning prince wrote from Vaduz in the auction catalog’s introduction.

Many of the items were used in palaces and castles of what is now the Czech Republic, he said. The family is running out of space after five centuries of acquiring and displaying art.

However, the family canceled the Munich show after Germany paid as much as €5 million (US$7.8 million) for data on account holders in Liechtenstein from the crooked informant.

Having visited the principality a few times and gazed upon its placid scenes, I can attest to the ancient provenance of much that resides in this delightful Alpine retreat. It’s a great place to visit and an even greater place to do business and stash your cash and assets – legally and with all required taxes paid, there and in your home country.

The royal house of Liechtenstein undoubtedly does not need the cash from this extraordinary sale, for they will endure, long after Germany’s criminal tax collectors are retired on their welfare state pensions.

BOB BAUMAN, Legal Counsel

P.S. I have authored a comprehensive work, The Liechtenstein Report that explains the many legal advantages of banking and asset protection in this small principality. Click here to find out if Liechtenstein, the oldest banking haven in the world, could suit your needs.