Kaiserliche Reichspost

In the late 15th and early 16th century, the Habsburg dynasty had managed to develop a transoceanic empire, on which it was said that "The sun never sets", but unlike the ancient Romans and Persians or their contemporary Chinese, Russians, Aztecs, or Incas, they lacked the financial capacity to maintain a postal system on their own.

[3] It was founded by the brothers Janetto and Francesco Tasso (Franz von Taxis) together with Maximilian of Austria in 1495, on the basis of the pre-existing Italian models and the courier networks built by Frederick III and Charles the Bold.

Thus he made an agreement (later renewed by Charles of Burgundy) with the Taxis that allowed them to operate unhampered by interference from the state, as long as they maintained standards in accordance with the Habsburgs' interests.

"[13] Confirmed by Emperor Rudolph II in 1595, the Imperial postal service remained a monopoly of the Thurn und Taxis family (officially hereditary from 1615 onwards) until it was terminated with the end of the Empire in 1806.

The Imperial Reichspost was first based in Mechelen,[14] before being moved to Brussels in the Netherlands, from where the original ("Dutch") route led via Namur, Bastogne, Lieser, Wöllstein, Rheinhausen, and Augsburg to Innsbruck and Trento.

After the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia, Postmaster General Count Lamoral II Claudius Franz von Thurn und Taxis and his successors had to deal with the establishment of separate postal agencies, mainly by the Protestant Imperial States of Northern German but also in several lands of the Habsburg monarchy, leading to long-lasting disputes over their range of authority.

Though the dynasty had sided with the Wittelsbach rival Charles VII in the War of the Austrian Succession, their services were indispensable, and Maria Theresa's husband Emperor Francis I officially re-implemented the Thurn und Taxis monopoly in 1746.

The last Postmaster General, Prince Karl Alexander von Thurn und Taxis, lost his office with the Empire's dissolution on 6 August 1806, but his postal authority continued as the Frankfurt-based Thurn-und-Taxis Post until the unification of Germany.

According to Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, "The decisive innovative aspect of this system was the creation of postal stations where riders could change horses quickly, thus accelerating the speed with which they spread information.

This setup, created in 1490, is described in the chronicles of the city of Memmingen report:[18] In this year they began to establish the posts at the order of Maximilian I the Roman king, from Austria all the way to the Netherlands, France, and Rome.

[31] The system's development facilitated the Habsburgs's control over their scattered territories, especially the financial centers in South Germany, North Italy, the Low Countries and Spain.