Couple (noble family)

Coat of arms of the Princes von Paar

The couple is an Austrian noble family . Its representatives made great contributions to the Austrian postal system since the 16th century .

history

Paar Castle in Hartberg , Styria (1681)

Rudolf Freiherr von Paar († 1640)

The family probably originally came from Italy and first appeared in a document in 1450 with Zeno Scurino, known as Paar; later they entered the service of the Habsburgs . In 1560, Peter Joseph Paar, Chief Postmaster in Pressburg , gained the Hungarian nobility and on February 5, 1574, the imperial knighthood. Johann Baptist von Paar was appointed postmaster for Inner Austria by Archduke Karl II . In 1571 he bought Schloss Paar in Hartberg in Styria . His son Johann Christoph bought the Krottenhof in Graz in 1590 .

On January 21, 1606, the brothers and cousins Rudolf, Julius, Johann Friedrich, Johann Christoph and Vespasian were raised by Paar zu Hardtperg to the status of imperial barons .

Johann Christoph von Paar , Imperial Treasurer , bought the Hofpostamt in Vienna from Johann Jacob Magno in 1622 and thus also took over the Lower Austrian Provincial Post, so that the Inner Austrian and Lower Austrian postal systems were merged. In 1623 he received all associated privileges confirmed. In 1624 he was enfeoffed with the postal system in Bohemia and Moravia . The fiefdom was confirmed in 1630 with the stipulation that the oldest of the sex should always be called obrister hereditary postmaster , the younger only hereditary postmaster . On June 1, 1629 he also received the feudal letter for the inner Austrian post office , which he had already administered. Julius Freiherr von Paar was enfeoffed with the postmaster office of Hungary , Bohemia and Austria above and below the Enns.

The family was thus in long-term competition with the Thurn and Taxis family , who had set up the Dutch Post Course (a Spanish-Habsburg transit route across Europe) and the Habsburg Post (1490–1556) on behalf of the Habsburgs in 1490 , and from 1595 onwards Imperial Post , through which it controlled the European postal system. The taxis had since 1480 also occasionally Hofpostamt Austria mitversehen that but then first to the family Wolzogen was given then to Magno and from 1622 for a hundred years to the postmaster dynasty of the pair, the resulting in numerous post routes within the Habsburg hereditary lands with the taxis competed. Count Karl von Paar's application in 1665 for the Imperial Post Office to take over the Tyrolean postal service operated by Innsbruck Taxis failed because the Emperor had to take into account the special status of the Spanish transit route.

In 1636 Johann Christoph von Paar received the promise of elevation to the imperial count, but died that same year. It was not until October 21, 1652 that his second successor Karl actually received the title of count. In the course of time the barons von Paar became landlords in Bohemia. On March 6, 1652 they were awarded the Bohemian Inkolat . The Bohemian count confirmation followed on January 14, 1654, the coats of arms union with the extinct Schwanberg and Rosenberg took place on November 28, 1665.

The Bohemian prince status ( primogeniture ) was awarded in Vienna on August 1, 1769 to the real secret councilor and chamberlain, highest imperial court and postmaster general, Count Johann Wenzel von Paar , who on August 5, 1769 also became a prince with the salutation " Hochgeboren " was raised and at the same time received the Great Palatinate . However, there was no introduction to the Reichsfürstenrat , as the prince did not have direct imperial territory, which is why the Bundestag resolution of August 18, 1825, which included the official recognition of the surveys of the mediatized princes before August 1806, was not applied to the couple. As one of 16 non-mediatized princely families, the family had at least one hereditary seat in the manor house , the upper house of the Austrian Imperial Council , since April 18, 1861.

Karl, 5th Prince of the couple on Hartberg and Krottenstein, was therefore only given the title " Highness " in Ischl on July 20, 1905 . Those born later carry the title and name "Graf von Paar" or "Countess von Paar". Alois von Paar (1840–1909) was Austrian field marshal lieutenant, Eduard Graf Paar (1837–1919) owner of the Kuk Bohemian Dragoon Regiment "Graf Paar" No. 2 named after him and long-standing adjutant general of Emperor Franz Joseph I. Today's head of the house Alfons Wenzel Maria Wilhelm Victor Carl Pius has been the 7th Prince Couple since April 1979, who is based in Italian-speaking Switzerland.

Possessions

Johann Christoph von Paar acquired Schloss Paar in Hartberg in Styria in 1571 , which remained in the family's possession for several centuries and was only sold in 1981. The Palais Paar on Wollzeile had been in Vienna since the 16th century and was sold in 1931.

The couple inherited larger lands in Bohemia through the marriage of Count Johann Leopold Paar with Countess Marie Theresia Violanta von Sternberg (1699–1761), including the allodial rule of Bechin and the attached allodial estate of Draschitz , on which they stayed most of the time. The possessions in Bohemia were lost after the Second World War.

Furthermore, a villa in Traunkirchen was owned by Count Paar.