Thurn und Taxis:
The history of an enterprising family
By Art Beéche
Very few
princely families have been able to play such an important role in Europe
without ever
appearing
as actors in the main stage of history. The dynasty of the Princes of Thurn
und Taxis is
such a
family. The family's fortunes prospered along those of the imperial court
at Vienna. For
more than
300 years, the Thurn und Taxis held the monopoly over imperial communications
and
post between
Vienna and the far flung Habsburg possessions that formed the Holy Roman
Empire
of the
German Nation.
The Thurn
und Taxis had humble beginnings in the XVth century. Emperor Frederick
III celebrated
half a
century on the throne in 1490, then decided to strengthen the communications
system within
his empire.
The Habsburgs had recently acquired Tyrol, and in the coming years would
also
incorporate
Burgundy and the Low Countries to their expanding empire. Frederick III
knew that
without
effective communication it would be impossible to govern the expanding
Habsburg lands.
With this
task in mind, the emperor offered a communications monopoly to the Thurn
und Taxis
family,
which had already proved its efficiency in providing support to the empire's
communications.
It was then that Franz von Thurn und Taxis obtained the mail monopoly over
all
the Habsburg
lands. For the next three centuries the name Thurn und Taxis was synonymous
with
transportation
and communications. It was also synonymous with wealth as the Thurn und
Taxis
prospered
greatly from their services to the Habsburgs.
The Thurn
und Taxis originated from the region of Bergamo in Italy. Their letters
of nobility were
granted
by Emperor Maximilian I in 1512 in recognition for services given to the
Habsburg family.
Emperor
Charles V confirmed his grandfather's granting in 1534. According to the
Almanac de
Gotha,
the Thurn und Taxis family were made Barons of the Empire in 1608. Almost
two decades
later,
Emperor Ferdinand II elevated the family to Counts of the Empire in 1624.
They were made
princes
by the Spanish Court in 1681 in recognition for their services. Finally,
the Thurn und Taxis
received
their princely title in the Holy Roman Empire in the 1695 from Emperor
Leopold I of
Habsburg.
No other
enterprise could guarantee transportation and communications with the reliability
provided
by the Thurn und Taxis. By the end of the XVIIIth century it took five
days for a letter to
travel
from Brussels to Innsbruck, while it took forty hours to travel from Brussels
to Paris. It was
a performance
record that only the Thurn und Taxis system could match. The family used
a horse
relay
system that allowed for uninterrupted travel from one European capital
to another. It was
Napoleon
Bonaparte who first attacked the Thurn und Taxis monopoly. And as the XIXth
century
progressed,
the family gradually lost it completely. The loss of the mail monopoly
did little to
affect
the power of the Thurn und Taxis for by then, the family had diversified
into a myriad other
enterprises
from foodstuffs to banking to railroads. Their wealth was vast and very
few other
European
families could match it.
The Thurn
und Taxis not only profited in their many enterprises. Their matrimonial
alliances were
also a
source of great pride and achievement. From their origin in Bergamo to
becoming the
couriers
of the imperial court in Vienna, the family also expanded its relations
through the palaces
of the
German nobility. One of the first prominent matrimonial alliances of the
family was that of
Eugene-Alexander,
I Prince of Thurn and Taxis, to Princess Anna of Fürstenberg. His
successor,
Anselm-Franz,
married into another renowned princely family when he wed Princess Maria
of
Lobkowicz
at the beginning of the XVIIIth century. The Third Prince of Thurn and
Taxis,
Alexander-Ferdinand,
continued these successful matrimonial alliances by marrying Sophia
Chistianne
of Brandenburg. His heir, the Fourth Prince married Duchess Augusta of
Wurttemberg.
Karl-Alexander,
the Fifth Prince of Thurn und Taxis was married to Duchess Theresa of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
a relative of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III of Great Britain. The
family
reached the pinnacle in 1858 when Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Thurn
und Taxis,
married
Duchess Helene in Bavaria, sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Helene
in fact, was
initially
chosen as Emperor Franz Joseph's bride, yet her vivacious and lovely younger
sister
attracted
the young emperor's eye and conquered his heart. Nonetheless, Maximilian
of Thurn und
Taxis
could count the Austrian emperor as a brother-in-law.
Prince Johannes and Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis
(1982)
The marriage
of Maximilian and Helene was a success as the couple found satisfaction
with each
other.
Unfortunately for Helene, her husband died unexpectedly in 1867 leaving
her with four
young
children: Louisa, Elisabeth, Maximilian and Albert. The children were raised
primarily at
the family's
gigantic St. Emmeran Palace in Regensburg. And as first cousin's of the
future emperor
of Austria,
the Thurn und Taxis were destined to make notable marriages. Louisa von
Thurn und
Taxis
married Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen a brother of King
Carol I of
Romania.
Princess Elisabeth married Prince Miguel, Duke of Braganza in 1877. Maximilian,
VIIth
Prince
of Thurn und Taxis died without any issue in 1885. He was succeeded by
his only brother,
Albert
who married Archduchess Margarethe of Habsburg, a daughter of Archduke
Joseph and
Princess
Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, sister of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.
Prince
Albert of Thurn und Taxis was famous throughout Europe for the size of
his fortune. From
his vast
palace of more than 500 rooms, Albert ruled over a large business empire.
By the time of
his accession,
the family had collected more than a dozen palaces and castles around Regensburg
and within
the Habsburg lands. The Thurn and Taxis were also among the largest landowners
in
Central
Europe. Prince Albert maintained a very artistic court at Regensburg, an
environment in
which
he allowed some the Wittelsbach strains inherited from his mother's family
show. His court
balls
were legendary and the family's art collection was considerably enlarged.
Albert
and Margarethe had eight children, one of which did not survive infancy.
The two eldest
boys,
Franz-Joseph and Karl-August, married two sisters, the Infantas Elisabeth
and Maria-Anna
of Braganza,
daughters of Miguel, Duke of Braganza. Franz-Joseph and Elisabeth had four
children
who survived
infancy. Their only son and heir to the princely title, Gabriel, died during
the siege
of Stalingrad
in 1942. Karl-August and Maria-Anna were the parents of four children.
Their eldest
son, Prince
Johannes of Thurn und Taxis, was born in 1926 and became the heir-presumptive
to the
princely
title after his cousin Gabriel's death.
Two
Generations: from left to right, Prince Johannes; Fürst Albrecht von
Thurn und Taxis; Prince Anselm ( who died
during the Second World War)
Prince
Albert of Thurn und Taxis was deeply opposed to the advent of Adolph Hitler.
As the Nazi
regime
strengthened its hold over Germany, the Thurn und Taxis increased their
opposition to
everything
that National Socialism represented. Hitler was very suspicious of these
very powerful
German
noble family. The Second World War did not treat the family lightly, not
only did Prince
Gabriel
die in 1942, but two years later Prince Anselm-Albert, another grandson
of Prince Albert,
was killed
in action. At the end of the war, the Thurn und Taxis lost vast properties
located behind
the Iron
Curtain.
Prince
Albert of Thurn und Taxis died at the age of eighty-four years in 1952.
Administration of
the family
fortune fell on the shoulders of Prince Johannes, who was in his mid-twenties.
Johannes
continued
to play an important role in handling the family's business until he inherited
the princely
title
from his father in 1982. At the time of his grandfather's death in 1952,
the family had over
30,000
hectares of land in Germany. Johannes sold a sizable piece of this real
estate and invested
in land
in North America and Brazil. He also invested heavily in industrial conglomerates.
By the
1990's
the family fortune had expanded to include five banks and several entertainment
businesses.
It was
also during this time that Johannes became involved in efforts to have
some of the property
lost during
the war restored to the family.
The charmed
life of His Serene Highness Johannes, XIth Prince of Thurn und Taxis, came
to an
abrupt
end on December 14, 1991. The prince had remained a bachelor until his
mid-fifties, when
the absence
of a male heir played an important role in his finding a wife. Johannes,
always very
capable
of surprising most people by his eclectic choices, married an impoverished
German
countess,
Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau, who was thirty four years his junior.
The
Schönburg-Glauchau's
were members of the Saxon aristocracy and had lost most of their
properties
after 1945. During most of the 1980's the couple led prominent lives as
members of the
international
jet set, a constant partying that in no small measure weakened Johannes'
health. By the
beginning
of the 1990's, the couple had three children, including Prince Albert,
the long-awaited
heir born
in 1983.
After Prince
Johannes' death, the Thurn und Taxis empire almost collapsed under the
weight of
death
duties and adventurous financial speculation. The princely couple's extravagance
also
contributed
to their mounting debts. Princess Gloria was forced to open the doors of
her husband's
castles
and hold auctions. She also sold off most of the enterprises that were
in deep financial
straits,
while reducing the family's expenditures. The Princess' actions to safeguard
the future of
her son's
inheritance has raised the ire of many members of the family, yet she did
not have other
options.
Johannes' death did not allow him time to prepare his affairs and thus
reduced the amount
of tax
levied on the Thurn und Taxis empire by the German government. Princess
Gloria's
activities
in favor of her son's future seem thus far to have saved a large portion
of the family's
patrimony
Long-gone
are the endless parties, the constant thundering of nightclubs and the
nasty encounters
with paparazzi.
These days, princess Gloria spends most of her time dedicated to the upbringing
of
her children
and the restructuring of the Thurn und Taxis legacy.
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