While still a child he was destined for the Catholic priesthood and so in 1774 - at the age of nine - he was sent by his father to start his religious life at the Cathedral of Cologne.
Ferrari stated: "I also entertained myself by giving [music] lessons for free [...] Prince Venceslao of Lichtenstein, canon of Cologne, was then in Roveredo [sic] in the house and under the care of his tutor, the brilliant Abbot Tachi [sic].
[3]In the years 1785–6 the Prince was in Rome studying theology and living in the monastery of St. Stefano del Cacco, where he was described in the records as Eccellentissimo Principe Don Giuseppe Venceslao di Liechtenstein da Vienna, Canonico della Metropoli di Colonia.
In Rome, in November 1786 the now nineteen-year old Prince came to make the acquaintance of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), who met him there at the Academy of Arcadia,[4] a fashionable meeting-place for elite men and well-known literary and artistic figures.
[5] After the prince's time in Rome, and on the advice of Cardinal Garampi (1725–92) he continued his studies at a French seminary, eventually being made a Canon in Salzburg.