Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

name: ''Karl Alexander Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (22 February 1770 – 15 July 1827) was the fifth Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of 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 wa ...

, and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 13 November 1805 until his death on 15 July 1827. With the death of his father on 13 November 1805, he became nominal ''Generalpostmeister'' of the Imperial

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

until the resignation of

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and I (; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and the first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Hungary, List of rulers of Croatia, Croa ...

Early life

Karl Alexander was born as the son of

Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German language, German name: ''Karl Anselm Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (2 June 1733 – 13 November 1805) was the fourth Thurn und Taxis, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Postmaster General of the Reic ...

and his first wife,

Duchess Auguste of Württemberg Duchess Auguste Elisabeth Marie of Württemberg (in German: ''Auguste Elisabeth Marie, Herzogin von Württemberg''; 30 October 1734 – 4 June 1787) was a member of the Ducal House of Württemberg and a Duchess of Württemberg by birth. Through ...

. He studied at the Universities of Strasbourg,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

and then subsequently went on a European tour. In 1797, he was appointed successor to his ailing father's position as ''Prinzipalkommissar'' at the Perpetual Imperial Diet in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

. Karl Alexander also worked for the Thurn and Taxis postal empire, operating during a decline due to the gradual loss of territory as a result of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Marriage and family

Karl Alexander married

Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Duchess Therese Mathilde Amalie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (; 5 April 1773 – 12 February 1839) was a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg. Through her marriage to Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, T ...

, fourth eldest child and third eldest daughter of

Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Charles II (Charles Louis Frederick; 10 October 1741 – 6 November 1816) was ruler of the state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1794 until his death. Originally ruling as duke, he was raised to the rank of grand duke in 1815. Prior to succeeding t ...

and

Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt Princess Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 August 1752 – 22 May 1782) was a member of the House of Hesse and by marriage a Duchess of Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Life Friederike was born in Darmstadt, ...

, on 25 May 1789 in

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in Northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard) ...

. Karl Alexander and Therese had seven children: *Princess Charlotte Luise of Thurn and Taxis (24 March 1790 – 22 October 1790) *Prince George Karl of Thurn and Taxis (26 March 1792 – 20 January 1795) * Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (6 July 1794 – 18 August 1874), ancestress of

Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis Gloria, Dowager Princess of Thurn and Taxis (''Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta''; born Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau, 23 February 1960) is a German socialite, businesswoman, Catholic activist, art collec ...

*Princess Luise Friederike of Thurn and Taxis (29 August 1798 – 1 December 1798) * Princess Maria Sophia Dorothea of Thurn and Taxis (4 March 1800 – 20 December 1870) *

Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: ''Maximilian Karl Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (3 November 1802 – 10 November 1871) was the sixth Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post, and Head of t ...

(3 November 1802 – 10 November 1871) *Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (29 January 1805 – 7 September 1825)

Continuation of the post

After the end of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, the Thurn and Taxis postal system continued to survive as a private company. Since 1806, Karl Alexander headed a private postal company, the

. It existed first as a feud of some of the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...

members, such as

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

nationalised the postal system two years later. After the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, Karl Alexander took over the Hessian and Thuringian postal services, as well as those in the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

cities of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

, and

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. From 1820, the company began to prosper again, so Karl Alexander began to acquire large amounts of land holdings.

Acquisition of new land

According to the Confederation of the Rhine Act, agreed upon between

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and the Confederation of the Rhine princes, the Principality of Thurn and Taxis lost its independence and was mediatised in 1806. Since then, the Princes of Thurn and Taxis and hence Karl Alexander, depending on the territory, were subjects of either the

King of Württemberg King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

, or the

Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

. In return, the House of Thurn and Taxis received the Imperial Abbey of St. Emmeram and associated territories in

. Karl Alexander also received as the family head of the House of Thurn and Taxis, Prussian possessions in the Grand Duchy of Poland. In 1822/23, he bought from the Count Kinsky and others the Burg Reichenburg in

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Ancestry

References

* Wolfgang Behringer: ''Thurn und Taxis'', München 1990 * Wolfgang Behringer: ''Im Zeichen des Merkur'', Göttingen 2003 * Wolfgang Behringer: ''Innovative Reichsfürsten'', in:

Damals ''Damals'' is a German monthly popular scientific history magazine. The magazine has been issued since 1969 and aims primarily at students, teachers, university students, scientists and a readership interested in historical science. The German ...

, Juli 2005 * Martin Dallmeier: ''Quellen zur Geschichte des europäischen Postwesens'', Lassleben, Kallmünz 1977 * Ludwig Kalmus: ''Weltgeschichte der Post'', Wien 1937 * Max Piendl: ''Das fürstliche Haus Thurn und Taxis'', Regensburg 1980 *

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for t ...

Band V, Genealogie Thurn und Taxis, Tafel 131 * Eugen Lennhoff/Oskar Posner: Internationales Freimaurer-Lexikon. Wien 1932, Nachdruck: Almathea-Verlag München 1980

External links

, - ! colspan="3" style="background: #bebebe; color: #000000" , Postal offices {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl Alexander Of Thurn And Taxis, Prince 1770 births 1827 deaths Hereditary princes of Thurn and Taxis

Thurn And Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and 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 end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and beca ...

People from Regensburg German Roman Catholics Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Lords Burials at the Gruftkapelle, St. Emmeram's Abbey