The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no,

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

enhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of

German nobility The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the begi ...

that is part of the ''

Briefadel ''Briefadel'' (; in German) or ''brevadel'' (in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) are persons and families who have been ennobled by letters patent. The oldest known such letters patent were issued in the middle of the 14th century, during the Late ...

''. It was a key player in the

postal services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

in 1806, and became well known as the owner of breweries and builder of many castles. The current head of the House is

Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis , image = Albert TT 2011.jpg , caption = Prince Albert in 2011 , reign = , reign-type = Period , predecessor = Johannes , successor = , suc-type = Heir presumptive , succession = Head of the House of Thurn and Taxis , birth_date = , birth_place ...

. The family is one of the wealthiest in Germany and has resided at

St. Emmeram Castle Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

since 1812. They resided in this city since 1748. They are one of the

mediatised Houses The mediatised houses (or mediatized houses, german: Standesherren) were ruling princely and comital-ranked houses that were mediatised in the Holy Roman Empire during the period 1803–1815 as part of German mediatisation, and were later recognise ...

for their former Sovereign Imperial counties, later mediatised to Kingdom of Wurttemberg (Principality of Buchau, now

Bad Buchau Bad Buchau () (formerly Buchau; Swabian: ''Buacha'') is a small town in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with about 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated near Lake Federsee, which is separated from the town by a wide reed belt. ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

and

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ( en, Nothing without God) , national_anthem = , common_languages = German , religion = Roman Catholic , currency = , title_leader = Prince , leader1 ...

History

The Tasso family (from the Italian word for "badger") was a Lombard family in the area of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

. The earliest records place them in Almenno in the

Val Brembana Val Brembana is a valley in Lombardy, northern Italy. It takes its name from the river crossing it, the Brembo. Geography The Bergamo Alps form the valley's northern limits, notably the Tre Signori and Diavolo di Tenda Peaks, while at south lie ...

around 1200,Serassi, Pierantonio. ''La vita di Torquato Tasso''
pp. 4 ff
Pagliarini, 1785. Retrieved 2 October 2013. before they fled to the more distant village of Cornello to escape feuding between

Colleoni The House of Colleoni was a Guelf-allied noble family in medieval Bergamo. Their Ghibelline opponents were the Suardi family, of which the Colleoni themselves were a branch. History When the Visconti of Milan seized Bergamo, they exiled the ...

(

Guelf The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalr ...

) and

Suardi Suardi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 60 km southwest of Milan and about 35 km southwest of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 692 and an area of ...

(

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

) families. Around 1290,''The Encyclopedia Americana: The International Reference Work'', Vol. 25
p. 476
Utgiver Americana Corporation, 1958. Retrieved 3 October 2013. after

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

had conquered Bergamo, Omodeo Tasso organized 32 of his relatives into the Company of Couriers (''Compagnia dei Corrieri'') and linked Milan with

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The recipient of royal and papal patronage, his

post riders Post riders or postriders describes a horse and rider postal delivery system that existed at various times and various places throughout history. The term is usually reserved for instances where a network of regularly scheduled service was provid ...

were so comparatively efficient that they became known as ''bergamaschi'' throughout Italy.López Jurado, Luis Felipe. ''Prefilatelia de Murcia: Historia Postal del Reino de Murcia desde 1569 hasta 1861'', pp. 26 ff.
La Familia Tassis
. Editora Regional de Murcia, 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2013. Ruggiero de Tassis was named to the court of the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Frederick the Peaceful in 1443. He organized a post system between Bergamo and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

by 1450; from

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

to Italy and

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

around 1460; and Vienna with

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

around 1480. Upon his success, Ruggiero was knighted and made a gentleman of the Chamber. was appointed Chief Master of Postal Services at

in 1489. Philip of Burgundy elevated Janetto's brother to captain of his post in 1502. Owing to a payment dispute with Philip, Francisco opened his post to public use in 1506. By 1516, Francisco had moved the family to

in the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

, where they became instrumental to

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

rule, linking the rich

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...

to the Spanish court.Papadopoulos, A.G. ''Urban Regimes and Strategies: Building Europe's Central Executive District in Brussels'' (University of Chicago Press, 1996)
p. 41
Retrieved 3 October 2013. The normal route passed through

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but a secondary route across the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

was available in times of hostility. At the death of Francisco in 1517, emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

appointed Francisco's nephew

Johann Baptista von Taxis Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

(1470-1541) as ''Generalpostmeister'' of the

Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...

. Johann Baptista was briefly succeeded by his eldest son, Franz II von Taxis (1514-1543), after whose untimely death the family split into two further branches. The youngest son, Leonhard I von Taxis, succeeded as ''Generalpostmeister'' and is the ancestor of the princely Thurn and Taxis family. Johann Baptista's second-eldest son, Raymond de Tassis (1515-1579), took over the office of postmaster-general to the

Crown of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

and settled in Spain. Raymond married into

Spanish nobility Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy and historically also those who held personal nobility as bestowed by one of the three highest orders of ...

, and his eldest son Juan de Tassis was created Count of Villamediana in 1603 by Phillip III. The Spanish line of the family became extinct with

Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana Don Juan de Tassis y Peralta, 2nd Count of Villamediana, ( es: ''Don Juan de Tassis y Peralta, segundo conde de Villamediana''; baptised 26 August 1582 – 21 August 1622), was a Spanish poet. In Spain he is simply known as Conde de Villamediana. ...

, a celebrated poet who died in mysterious circumstances in 1622. The name ''Thurn und Taxis'' arose from the translation into German of the family's French title (''de La Tour et Tassis'' or ''de Tour et Taxis'').

named Giovanni Battista de Tassis as master of his post in 1520; Maximilian I expanded their network throughout the

.McRobbie, L. R. ''Gute Prinzessinnen kommen ins Märchen, böse schreiben Geschichte: Von Olga, der Wilden, über Kaiserin Sisi bis zu Gloria von Thurn und Taxis''. BTB Verlag, 2014. In 1624, the family members were elevated to ''

graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

en'' (

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s), and they formally adopted the German form of their name in 1650. They were named 'princely' in 1695 at the behest of

Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

. The family operated the

Thurn-und-Taxis Post The Thurn-und-Taxis Post () was a private postal service and the successor to the Imperial Reichspost of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thurn-und-Taxis Post was operated by the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis between 1806 and 1867. The company was ...

, successor to the

Imperial Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the Mail, postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peac ...

of the Holy Roman Empire, between 1806 and 1867. Their postal service was gradually lost over the centuries, with the Spanish network being bought by the crown in the 18th century and the German post being purchased by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

after the fall of the

Free City of Frankfurt For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities: *The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806) *The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...

in 1866. The family seat was established in

, Germany, and it has remained at

there since 1748. SchlossThurnundTaxis2010

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

wrote his ''

Duino Elegies The ''Duino Elegies'' (german: Duineser Elegien) are a collection of ten elegies written by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. He was then "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", and began t ...

'' while visiting Princess Marie of Thurn and Taxis (''née'' Princess of

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous time ...

) at her family's

Duino Castle Duino Castle ( it, Castello di Duino, german: Schloss Duino, sl, Grad Devin) is a fourteenth-century fortification located in Duino (municipality of Duino-Aurisina), near Trieste, Italy, on the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. Building ...

. Rilke later dedicated his only novel (''

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge ''The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'', first published as ''Journal of My Other Self'', M. D. Herter Norton (tr.). New York: W. W. Norton, 1949, 1992. Translator's Foreword, p. 8. is a 1910 novel by Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. The nove ...

'') to the princess, who was his

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

ess. Princess Marie's relation to Regensburg's Thurn and Taxis family is rather distant, however – she was married to Prince Alexander of Thurn and Taxis, a member of the family's Czech branch that in the early 19th century settled in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

(now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

) and became strongly connected to Czech national culture and history. Several members of the family have been

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. Until 1919, the titles of the head of the princely house were ''Seine Durchlaucht der Fürst von Thurn und Taxis, Fürst zu Buchau und Fürst von Krotoszyn, Herzog zu Wörth und Donaustauf, gefürsteter Graf zu Friedberg-Scheer, Graf zu Valle-Sássina, auch zu Marchtal, Neresheim usw., Erbgeneralpostmeister'' (His Serene Highness the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Prince of Buchau and Prince of Krotoszyn, Duke of Wörth and Donaustauf, Princely Count of Friedberg-Scheer, Count of Valle-Sássina, Marchtal, Neresheim etc., Hereditary Postmaster General). The current head of the house of Thurn and Taxis is Albert II, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, son of

Johannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

and his wife,

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

. The family is one of the wealthiest in Germany. The family's brewery was sold to the Paulaner Group of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in 1996, but it still produces beer under the brand of ''Thurn und Taxis''.

Princes of Thurn and Taxis

* Eugen Alexander, 1st Prince 1695–1714 (1652–1714) **

Anselm Franz Anselm Franz (January 20, 1900—November 18, 1994) was a pioneering Austrian jet engine engineer known for the development of the Jumo 004, the world's first mass-produced turbojet engine by Nazi Germany during World War II, and his work on tur ...

, 2nd Prince 1714–1739 (1681–1739) *** Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince 1739–1773 (1704–1773) **** Karl Anselm, 4th Prince 1773–1805 (1733–1805) ***** Karl Alexander, 5th Prince 1805–1827 (1770–1827) ****** Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince 1827–1871 (1802–1871) ******* ''

Maximilian Anton, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis , title = Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis , image = Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis.jpg , caption = , reign = , reign-type = , coronation = , predecessor = , successor = ...

(1831–1867)'' ******** Maximilian Maria, 7th Prince 1871–1885 (1862–1885) ******** Albert I, 8th Prince 1885–1952 (1867–1952) *********

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, 9th Prince 1952–1971 (1893–1971) ********** '' Prince Gabriel (1922–1942) ********* Karl August, 10th Prince 1971–1982 (1898–1982) ********** Johannes Baptista, 11th Prince 1982–1990 (1926–1990) *********** Albert II, 12th Prince 1990–present (born 1983) ********* '' Prince Raphael Rainer (1906–1993)'' ********** '' Prince Max Emanuel'' (1935–2020), two sons without dynastic rights ********* ''Prince Philipp Ernst (1908–1964)'' ********** ''Prince Albert Friedrich (1930–2021)'' **** ''Prince Maximilian Joseph (1769–1831)'', founder of the Czech branch of the family ***** ''Prince Karl Anselm (1792–1844)'' ****** ''Prince Hugo Maximilian (1817–1889)'' ******* ''Prince Alexander Johann (1851–1939)'' ******** ''Prince Erich Lamoral (1876–1952)'' ********* ''Prince Johann von Nepomuk (1908–1959)'' ********** (1) Prince Friedrich (born 1950), ''

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

********** (2) Prince Karl Ferdinand (born 1952), three sons without dynastic rights ********** (3) Prince Maximilian (born 1955) ******** '' Prince Alexander (1881–1937), 1st Principe della Torre e Tasso and

Duke of Castel Duino The Dukes of Castel Duino are a noble family in Italy descending from the Bohemian line of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. History The title was created along with the additional title of Principe della Torre e Tasso in 1934 for Princ ...

1923–1937 (some heirs are without dynastic rights'') ********* '' Prince Raimundo '' ********** '' Prince Carlo '' ********* '' Prince Luigi '' ********** ''Prince Alessandro'' ********* ''Princess Margarete'' The Thurn and Taxis family came to massive media attention during the late 1970s through mid-1980s when Prince Johannes married Countess Mariae Gloria of Schönburg-Glauchau, a member of an impoverished but

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

noble family. The couple's wild, "

jet set In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of tra ...

" lifestyle and Princess Gloria's over-the-top appearance (characterized by bright hair colours and ''

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

'' clothes) earned her the nickname of "Princess TNT".Princess TNT
(also referred to as "Princess TNT, the dynamite socialite") according to the June 2006 edition of Vanity Fair Magazine).

Cultural references

* The mail monopoly of Thurn and Taxis is central to the plot of ''

The Crying of Lot 49 ''The Crying of Lot 49'' is a 1966 novel by American author Thomas Pynchon. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman who begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-ol ...

'' by

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

. * The board game ''

Thurn and Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the e ...

'', by

Andreas Seyfarth Andreas Seyfarth (born 6 November 1962) is a German-style board game designer, who is most famous for creating ''Puerto Rico (game), Puerto Rico'', which is highly ranked on BoardGameGeek. In 2002, the game was awarded first place for the presti ...

and Karen Seyfarth, is inspired by the family. * The protagonist of

Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...

's ''Elegy for Angels and Dogs'' is the head of the Thurn und Taxis family. * Thurn und Taxis are also mentioned in several volumes of the 163x series by

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...

and others, e.g. '' 1635: The Dreeson Incident'' and '' 1636: The Saxon Uprising''. * The credits for Season 3, Episode 4 of the television show ''

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons and 53 episodes. Although the plot evolves significa ...

'' features a character named "The Baroness von Thurn und Taxis," played by Ilka Urbach.

References and sources

;Notes ;Sources * Wolfgang Behringer, ''Thurn und Taxis, Die Geschichte ihrer Post und ihrer Unternehmen'', München, Zürich 1990 * Martin Dallmeier, ''Quellen zur Geschichte des europäischen Postwesens'', Kallmünz 1977 * Martin Dallmeier and Martha Schad, ''Das Fürstliche Haus Thurn und Taxis, 300 Jahre Geschichte in Bildern'', Regensburg 1996, * Fritz Ohmann, ''Die Anfänge des Postwesens und die Taxis'', Leipzig 1909 * Joseph Rübsam, ''Johann Baptista von Taxis'', Freiburg im Breisgau 1889 * Marecek, Zdenek, ''Loucen a Thurn Taxisove. Pohledy do doby minule i nedavne.'' Obec Loucen, 1998.

External links

Thurn und Taxis family website

Thurn & Taxis Post & Telecom History

– link to the postage stamps Thurn und Taxis issued, 1852–67 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurn Und Taxis 1608 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1806 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1608 Postal organizations Knights of Malta Electoral Rhenish Circle Postal history of Germany States and territories disestablished in 1806

History

Princes of Thurn and Taxis

Cultural references

See also

References and sources

External links