Josef Hoop

Franz Josef Hoop (German: [ˈfʁants ˈjoːzɛf ˈhoːp] ^ⓘ; 14 December 1895 – 19 October 1959) was a diplomat and politician from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 1928 to 1945. He later served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1958 until his death in 1959.

Hoop initially worked as the attaché and chargé d'affaires at the Liechtenstein legation in Vienna and then in the Swiss customs administration before being elected as prime minister following the 1928 general election. In his first years in office he oversaw Liechtenstein's response to the Great Depression through economic programs. Starting from 1933, his government faced numerous domestic and foreign challenges to the country, notable events such as the Rotter kidnapping, 1937 spy affair and 1939 putsch. In 1938, his government entered into a coalition government with the opposition Patriotic Union. During World War II, Hoop considered friendly, non-binding, non-provocative diplomacy to be appropriate towards Nazi Germany, supplemented by courtesy gestures. At the same time, he tied the country as closely as possible to Switzerland and successfully maintained the country's neutrality throughout the war. He was pressured to resign by Franz Joseph II in 1945.

Following his resignation as prime minister, Hoop studied law and then worked as a lawyer in Vaduz from 1948. He returned to politics when he was elected to the Landtag of Liechtenstein in 1957, and he was the president of the Landtag from 1958 to 1959. A habitual smoker throughout his adult life, Hoop died due to heart failure in 1959. His services to Liechtenstein, particularly during World War II, were widely recognized, with Franz Joseph II saying in retrospect that "Hoop saved the country".