Johann II, an outstanding art connoisseur and a generous patron, added much to the Liechtenstein Princely Collections. Although considered a prominent patron of the arts and sciences during his long reign, Johann II was also considered to be rather unsociable and did not participate in social events. Rarely did he show up in his magnificent
Vienna residences,
Liechtenstein City Palace and
Liechtenstein Garden Palace. He also never assumed any tasks in Austrian politics or the Austrian military, and he never married or had any children like several other members of his family. From 1884, he rebuilt
Liechtenstein Castle, the ancestral seat of his family near Vienna, which had fallen into ruins. Between 1905 and 1920,
Schloss Vaduz was renovated and expanded. Like all of his ancestors he never lived in the principality of Liechtenstein, but on the vast Austrian and Moravian estates of the
House of Liechtenstein which were 7.5 times the total area of the Principality itself. His main homes were the castles of
Lednice and Valtice (German names: Eisgrub and Feldsberg) in what is today the Czech Republic (then part of
Austria-Hungary with the Austrian-Bohemian border running through the park between the two castles). The local administration of the Principality was overseen by a governor, and the government office was located at the prince's seat. It was not until the
German occupation of the Czech lands at the beginning of World War II that the residence was moved to Vaduz. == Declining health and death ==