Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn and Taxis

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contemporary painting
Coat of arms of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis

Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn and Taxis (born March 21, 1704 in Frankfurt am Main , † March 17, 1773 in Regensburg ) was the third Prince of Thurn and Taxis and general inheritance postmaster . In the period from 1743 to 1745 and from 1748 until the end of his life he was principal commissioner at the Perpetual Diet .

Life

Alexander Ferdinand was the eldest son of Prince Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis . After he had been intensively prepared for his later position as general inheritance postmaster at a young age, he went on to study law. In 1731 he married Margravine Sophie Christine Luise von Brandenburg-Bayreuth , a sister-in-law of Frederick the Great of Prussia, who died in 1739. In 1745 he married Princess Charlotte Louise de Lorraine, Countess of Lambesc († 1747) and in 1750 in third marriage Princess Maria Henriette Josepha von Fürstenberg-Stühlingen .

In the period from 1739 until his death he was general hereditary postmaster in the Holy Roman Empire, head of the Imperial Imperial Post and the leased post in the Austrian Netherlands .

After the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI. After death in 1740, Alexander Ferdinand stood against his heiress Maria Theresa and instead supported, also financially, the election of the Bavarian Elector Karl Albrecht from the House of Wittelsbach as the new Emperor Charles VII. After Charles VII's election in 1742, he drew him with one Entourage of two postmasters, two post administrators, six post officers and two couriers to Mannheim to escort him to the coronation city of Frankfurt am Main. After the relocation of the Perpetual Reichstag from Regensburg to Frankfurt and the resignation of the previous Principal Commissioner Joseph Wilhelm Ernst von Fürstenberg-Stühlingen, the Kaiser suggested that he take over the office in the summer of 1742. When the Viennese court found out about this, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands, in which the Thurn and Taxis had been the tenants of the Post Generalate since 1725, was supposed to arrest him, but this was averted after negotiations between the Mainz clergyman and the House of Habsburg.

Under Charles VII, Alexander Ferdinand took over the office of principal commissioner at the Perpetual Reichstag for the first time by decree from February 1, 1743 to 1745. This post as the emperor's deputy at the Perpetual Reichstag was very costly and a subsidy company, as it was also associated with extensive representational duties. Charles VII was unable to repay the debts to Thurn und Taxis, but on July 2, 1744, he raised the fief of the Reichspostgeneralate to a fiefdom.

Epitaph Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis in the Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus Frankfurt a. M.

After the sudden death of Emperor Charles VII in January 1745 and the election of Maria Theresa's husband Franz Stephan of Lorraine as Emperor Franz I , the Perpetual Diet was relocated from Frankfurt to Regensburg, and Alexander Ferdinand lost his office. Only after extensive negotiations with the Viennese court and concessions in the area of ​​the post, such as the establishment of black cabinets to monitor letters and the promise to move from Frankfurt to Regensburg, was he reappointed by Franz I as principal commissioner on January 15, 1748. For this reason, the Thurn und Taxis residence was relocated from Frankfurt to Regensburg in the same year.

With his solemn entry into Regensburg on March 1, 1748, Alexander Ferdinand began his second office as Principal Commissioner and Deputy of the Emperor at the Perpetual Reichstag. The Regensburg court differed significantly from that in Frankfurt in that he mainly emphasized his task as principal commissioner. He ensured that the ambassadors were distracted and entertained after the sessions of the Reichstag, hosted galasoupers, had his own court music band and called various musicians and composers to his court, including Joseph Touchemoulin and František Xaver Pokorný . He also ran a court theater, in which French comedy was the main focus.

On May 30, 1754, Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis was accepted into the Imperial College of Princes due to the Eglingen rulership acquired in 1723 , although he did not have a principality and, according to Wolfgang Behringer, was considered a "prince without a country" in the sense of the old feudal system. For example, various imperial estates protested when the representative from the House of Thurn and Taxis cast his vote in votes in the Perpetual Reichstag .

After his death in 1773, his son from his first marriage, Karl Anselm, took over the post of general inheritance postmaster and principal commissioner.

progeny

From first marriage

  • Sophie Christine (1731–1731)
  • Karl Anselm (1733–1805) ⚭ 1. with Augusta Elisabeth Duchess of Württemberg, 2. ( morganatic ) Elisabeth Hildebrand von Train
  • Luise Auguste Charlotte (1734–1735)
  • Friedrich August (1736–1755)
  • Ludwig Franz Karl Lamoral Joseph (1737–1738)

From third marriage

literature

  • Wolfgang Behringer: Thurn and Taxis. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-492-03336-9
  • Martin Dallmeier, Martha Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. 300 years of history in pictures . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1996, ISBN 3-7917-1492-9 .

Web links

Commons : Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. 300 years of history in pictures . Regensburg 1996, p. 47.
  2. ^ Wolfgang Behringer: Thurn and Taxis. Munich and Zurich 1990, p. 213.
  3. ↑ a b c Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. 300 years of history in pictures . Regensburg 1996, p. 44.
  4. ↑ Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. 300 years of history in pictures . Regensburg 1996, p. 45.
  5. ^ Wolfgang Behringer: Thurn and Taxis. Munich and Zurich 1990, p. 215.
  6. ↑ Ludwig Kalmus: World history of the post. Verlag Amon Göth, Vienna 1937, pp. 413-414.
  7. ↑ Dallmeier, Schad: The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. 300 years of history in pictures . Regensburg 1996, pp. 46-47.
  8. ^ Wolfgang Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , Munich / Zurich 1990, p. 219.
predecessor Office successor
Anselm Franz Prince of Thurn and Taxis
1739–1773 		Karl Anselm
personal data
SURNAME Thurn and Taxis, Alexander Ferdinand von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION General Hereditary Postmaster, third Prince of Thurn and Taxis, principal commissioner
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1704
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1773
Place of death regensburg