Count Frederick IV was the youngest son of Leopold IV from the house of Hapsburg.

The events following the Council of Constance (1414 – 1418) summoned by King Sigismund made the life of Frederick difficult in the years that followed and earned him the nickname "with empty pockets". The personal relationship with the king, which was already tense, deteriorated even more when Frederick chaperoned Pope John XXIII through his country and helped him to escape to Constance. King Sigismund proclaimed outlawry in the name of the Emperor upon Frederick, who subjugated himself to the king before the summoned Council, whereupon he was imprisoned in Constance.

After almost one year in prison, Frederick was able to escape. He arrived safely in Bludenz via Arlberg still covered by snow. The loyal Hans von Müllinen from Schloss Berneck was waiting to receive him at the entrance to the Kaunertal.

During a rhyming game/play occasioned by the Count in Landeck, Frederick noticed that the people were deeply moved by the fate of their expelled count. When Frederic said who he was, the people started cheering. In spite of all this, Frederick still had to hide often. We know that one of his common abodes was the Widum zu Flaurling, from where he fled to the Höpperg via Petersberg castle. Fatigued by the trials and tribulations of hiding, Frederic is reported to have rested and proclaimed at the very location of today’s Ferienschlössl: "If only I had a little castle like this!" Centuries later, a little castle was indeed built in this very place.

As Frederic could have been easily detected by his persecutors on the Höpperg, he hid not far away from here in a log cabin in the forest for a couple of days. This place below the Brandsee (lake) has hitherto been called "Beim Fürstenhäusl".

Following laborious negotiations in Constance, Sigismund abolished the outlawry proclaimed over Frederick in 1418, returned his property to him and compensated him with a substantial amount of money. Clever financial policy and skilled rulership in tandem with the start of the Tyrolean mining period made Friedl, nicknamed “with the empty pockets”, a wealthy count. The vast fortune was inherited by his son Sigmund, nicknamed "rich in coins".