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The noble family Von Thurn und Taxis played an important role in postal transport in Western Europe from the 15th till the 19th century. Roger is regarded to have started the postal service in the middle of the 15th century. He maintained a postal service between Tyrol and the Northern parts of Italy. Philip (Le Beau) appointed François in 1501 as "Captain and master of our postal service". In 1505 an agreement was drawn up in which was defined that regular postal services would be provided between Spain, Holland, France and Germany. In 1506 a service became into effect between Mechelen in Belgium and Innsbruck in Austria. Ten years later a postal agreement was signed between the family Von Thurn und Taxis and Charles V. This meant that postal transport to and from Verona, Rome and Naples in Italy were added to the network. The rulers were always in financial trouble and by accepting favours in stead of money the family could expend and develop her activities. In this way Thurn and Taxis were entitled to transport mail of private persons. A booming economy increased postal transport. More and more merchants were sending letters and the postal activities developed rapidly at the end of the 16th century. Lamoral became "Captain and postmaster" in 1574 and the whole network of Thurn and Taxis could be used for private mail. In the 17th and 18th century the family succeeded to increase her interests too. At the summit of power the family employed 20.000 mail-boys and the family monopolised postal transport from the Baltic Sea to the Street of Gibraltar. The turning point came after the French revolution when Napoleon granted some German states to found their own postal service. In the 19th century mail transport was nationalised in most countries in Europe. In 1850 the family's territory was shrunken to some German territories and cities. Between 1850 and 1867 stamps were issued to be used on mail transported by the Thurn and Taxis family, but in 1867 the family had to sell the postal rights as a result of supporting the loosing party during the war between Prussia and Austria. © 1999, R.T. van Capelleveen Back to Homepage  Shopping on the Internet Software | Free Classifieds | Free Downloads | Shops Free Stuff | Newsletters |
