Chapter III: The Thurn and Taxis Posts in Germany

The great number of the principalities which made up the Germany of the early Middle Ages, the mutual jealousy of the princes, and the indefinite authority of the Emperor, made the introduction of any sort of general system of communication extremely difficult. But for a long period before posts of the ordinary type were established in Germany, there existed throughout the Empire a system of messengers (_Boten-Anstalten_).

These establishments were maintained by the political administration, by the scholastic institutions, by political corporations, by merchant bodies, or by private individuals.[701] Their function was to effect the exchange of the correspondence of their founders. In addition, the occasional posts (_Metzger_), merchants travelling to the fairs, judicial and Imperial messengers, and pilgrim monks were much employed for the carrying of letters.

The system of _Boten-Anstalten_ was widely extended, and its functions were not limited to the conveyance of letters.[702] Its messengers travelled some of the great routes, such as Hamburg-Stettin-Danzig; Hamburg-Leipzig-Nuremberg; Cologne-Frankfort-Augsburg; and these services were more or less permanent in character. Services on other routes were established to meet local or temporary needs, such as the assembly of the Reichstag, the meeting of the Electors, Peace Congresses, War Conferences, and fairs; and these services were discontinued when the occasion which had required them disappeared.

The organization of this system of messengers resembled in many ways that of ordinary posts: it was established and managed by the political authorities; the services were regular; the routes were fixed and stages were appointed; and the messengers undertook the conveyance of letters, goods, and persons, by foot, horse, or wagon.[703] At a later date letter-carriers were employed in some instances for the delivery of letters conveyed by the messenger services. A charge of 3 pf. was raised on letters so delivered, the delivery charge on letters obtained directly from the _Botenmeister_ being 1 pf.[704]

The intellectual awakening of the early sixteenth century, the great discoveries of that period and their effect on commerce, together with the tendency then developing towards amalgamation of the principalities and creation of larger political entities, all increased the necessity for an efficient system of intercommunication. The result is seen in the establishment of an Imperial system of posts.[705]

The regular Imperial posts were established towards the end of the fifteenth century by the Emperor Maximilian I. Johann von Taxis was the first Imperial Postmaster, and the earliest record of his tenure of the office is in 1489.[706] A decree suppressing the system of _Boten-Anstalten_ and the _Metzgerposten_ was issued, but these posts continued, and it was discovered at a later date that their continuance was not incompatible with the maintenance of a system of Imperial posts.[707]

The Imperial posts were to provide more particularly for the transmission of despatches, and their immediate object was to provide a means of obtaining information regarding the Turks, and a means of communication with the princes of neighbouring territories.[708] Their history is inseparable from that of the family of Thurn and Taxis, to whom their management was from the first entrusted. This family was of Italian origin, and before the establishment of the Imperial posts, Roger the First of Thurn and Taxis had established a horse-post between Italy and the Tyrol, which proved of so much value to the Empire that as a reward Roger was made a chevalier. On the routes along which the Imperial posts were laid, stages were fixed at intervals of about 5 (German) miles, and messengers were stationed at each stage.[709] These messengers from the first enjoyed the privilege of exemption from all taxes and charges in all the countries through which the post routes passed. The posts were solely for the service of the Emperor, and at his charge; and at first, like the earlier messenger services, were established temporarily for special purposes, such as the movements of the Imperial Court, or to meet necessities arising from war; or permanently to provide services between distant and newly acquired territory.[710]

In 1500 Francis von Taxis was appointed _capitaine et ma[^i]tre de nos postes_ at Ghent by Philip the Fair, son of the Emperor Maximilian I, and in 1505 a convention was concluded between Philip and von Taxis under which the latter undertook to establish a line of posts between the Court of Maximilian I, the Court of the French King, and the Spanish Court, for a payment of 12,000 livres a year. The German and Spanish services were intended to maintain permanent and regular communications. The French post was intended to facilitate diplomatic intercourse.[711] The time occupied in the transmission of letters between Innsbruck and Brussels at this period was 5-1/2 days in summer and 6-1/2 days in winter; between Paris and Brussels 44 hours; and between Granada and Brussels 15 days.

Owing to financial difficulties the payments to von Taxis from the royal exchequer could not be kept up, and in order to maintain the service another source of revenue had to be discovered. It was found in the acceptance for transmission by the posts of private letters, and in allowing the use of the posts by private persons desirous of travelling. This was made part of the ordinary business of the posts, with the reservation that the use of the posts by private persons should not interfere with or impede the official service.[712]

In 1512 the Emperor Maximilian conferred on Francis von Taxis, and on several others of his family, titles of hereditary nobility in the Empire and in the Austrian and Burgundian dominions, together with the dignity of Count Palsgrave.[713] In 1516 the Taxis posts were extended to Verona, Rome, and Naples, and were improved and accelerated. In 1615 the office of Imperial Postmaster-General was conferred on Lamoral von Taxis and his descendants as an hereditary fief.

The actual development of the posts was of a twofold character. At first the Taxis family were able to establish their posts in various parts of the Empire without opposition; the princes were themselves satisfied with their messenger systems, and were indisposed to establish posts on account of the heavy cost. But after a time, when the profitable character of the Taxis posts became apparent,[714] the princes questioned the right of the Imperial Postmaster-General to lay posts within their territories, and claimed that they alone possessed that right.[715] In 1597 the posts were proclaimed an Imperial reservation,[716] but this theory was never accepted by the princes.[717] The Taxis posts, therefore, never became general throughout the Empire. Eights were obtained in certain States, so that they became an important system reaching many parts of the Empire; but they did not altogether supplant the territorial services.[718]

In the early part of the seventeenth century the struggle against the monopoly of the Imperial posts developed. The States were jealous of the growing power of Austria, and political affinities were weakening. There was, moreover, some feeling against such an office being held by an alien family.[719] The Palatinate, W[:u]rtemberg, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg established posts within their respective territories.[720] The whole question became involved with the disputes which led up to the Thirty Years' War, and the princes found their position indirectly strengthened by the Peace of Westphalia, which contained no settlement of the disputes regarding the posts, but merely referred the question to the next Reichstag. Attempts were made to extend the Imperial posts, but much opposition was encountered. Nevertheless, the system continued to expand and attained considerable dimensions. The family held the exclusive right of carrying passengers as well as letters; and it was estimated that during the eighteenth century the house of Thurn and Taxis received a gross sum of 20,000 livres per day, and a net profit of four millions a year. Some 20,000 men, and a greater number of horses, were employed in the service.[721]

The Revolutionary Wars were disastrous to the system. The Taxis posts were in many instances replaced by territorial posts,[722] and by the Peace of Luneville (1801), which made the Rhine the boundary between France and Germany, the family lost control of all their posts to the west of the Rhine. They were, however, compensated for the loss of the revenues of those posts by a grant of territory (Reichs-Deputationshauptschluss of 25 February 1803).

In the following years the Prince of Taxis strengthened his position by a series of agreements with the German States, but with the establishment in 1806 of the Confederation of the Rhine and the abdication of the Emperor, the Holy Roman Empire and the Imperial posts fell together. In 1814 Prince Charles Anselm of Thurn and Taxis attempted unsuccessfully to regain possession of the posts in the Low Countries. The territorial posts were not, however, altogether satisfactory, and the rights of the Taxis family were restored by the Agreement of 1815, establishing the German Confederation; in pursuance of which the family recovered the posts in Electoral Hesse in 1816, in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Coburg in 1817, Hesse-Darmstadt in 1818, and W[:u]rtemberg in 1819. The posts in other States were recovered in subsequent years, and in 1848 the Taxis posts comprised an area of 2,675 square (German) miles, with a yearly income of a million Marks.[723] In most cases a rent was paid to the State for the privilege of conducting the posts. Thus, W[:u]rtemberg received a yearly payment of 70,000 florins, the Grand Duchy of Hesse of 25,000 florins, and Electoral Hesse of 40,000 thalers.[724] In addition, the Governments of the respective States were given considerable privileges in regard to free transmission of State correspondence, etc. The rates of postage charged compared favourably with those charged in the States in which territorial posts were established.[725] In 1850 the rates were simplified by the introduction of a scale based on three distance zones: not exceeding 15 miles, 4 kr. (1 sgr.); from 15 to 30 miles, 7 kr. (2 sgr.); and for distances exceeding 30 miles, 10 kr. (3 sgr.). In 1861 these rates were reduced to 3, 6, and 9 kr. respectively for the three zones.[726] In addition there was a local rate of 2 kr. (1/2 sgr.) for letters delivered within a distance of 3 miles. In some of the towns a still lower local rate, 1 kr. (1/4 sgr.) was in operation.[727]

The Taxis posts were, however, still regarded with a good deal of jealousy, although it was recognized that in some ways the system was advantageous in providing a unified postal service for a large part of Germany at a time when it would have been difficult to arrange directly between the various States for the maintenance of a common service.

The situation was materially changed when, after the events of 1864-6, Prussia absorbed the duchies of the Elbe, Hanover, Electoral Hesse, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort. Prussia, of course, desired to assume control of the posts in these territories, which formed a large part of the whole Taxis system. After some discussion of the rights of the Taxis family, as a result of which it appeared that legally the system was well grounded, and could not be taken, therefore, from the Taxis family without compensation, the Prussian Government decided to buy up the rights of the family in the new Prussian territory.[728] The taking over of these posts would have left so small a system in the hands of the Taxis family that they preferred to negotiate for the transfer of the whole system to Prussia. The compensation to be paid was based mainly on consideration of the net revenue of the Taxis posts.

During the years 1855-65 this had been as follows:--

Florins.
1855-6 405,582
1856-7 579,218
1857-8 692,884
1858-9 500,412
1859-60 638,801
1860-1 648,519
1861-2 464,751
1862-3 583,409
1863-4 753,917
1864-5 724,405[729]

The amount of compensation was agreed at three million Marks. The sum was voted by the Prussian Parliament without debate, and on the 1st July 1867 Prussia assumed the control of the entire Taxis system of posts. The administration was amalgamated with that of the ordinary Prussian posts.

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