VON THURN UND TAXIS, Karl Alexander (1770-1827) - Sinfonia C-Dur (1790)

Karl Alexander von Thurn und Taxis (1770-1827) - Sinfonia C-Dur (1790)

Performers: Böhmisches Sinfonieorchester Budweis; Hans Peter Wiesheu (leitung)

Painting: Michael Neher (1798-1876) - Das Rathaus in Regensburg (1841)

Further info: Musik aus der Reichstagszeit

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Karl (Carl) Alexander (Fürst) von Thurn und Taxis

(Regensburg, 22 February 1770 - Schloss Taxis bei Dischingen, 15 July 1827)

German aristocratic from a family of patrons of music. He was the fifth Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post, and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 13 November 1805 until his death on 15 July 1827. With the death of his father on 13 November 1805, he became nominal Generalpostmeister of the Imperial Reichspost until the resignation of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. Karl Alexander studied at the Universities of Strasbourg, Würzburg, and Mainz and then subsequently went on a European tour. In 1797, he was appointed successor to his ailing father's position as Prinzipalkommissar at the Perpetual Imperial Diet in Regensburg. Karl Alexander also worked for the Thurn and Taxis postal empire, operating during a decline due to the gradual loss of territory as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. He married Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, fourth eldest child and third eldest daughter of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and his wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt, on 25 May 1789 in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Karl Alexander and Therese had seven children. After the end of the Holy Roman Empire, the Thurn and Taxis postal system continued to survive as a private company. Since 1806, Karl Alexander headed a private postal company, the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post. It existed first as a feud of some of the Confederation of the Rhine members, such as Baden, Bavaria, and Württemberg. Bavaria, however, nationalized the postal system two years later. After the Congress of Vienna, Karl Alexander took over the Hessian and Thuringian postal services, as well as those in the Hanseatic League cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck, and Schaffhausen. From 1820, the company began to prosper again, so Karl Alexander began to acquire large amounts of land holdings. He was also an occasional composer and wrote a sinfonia and keyboard music preserved in Regensburg.