Eugen Alexander Franz, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 name: Eugen Alexander Franz Fürst von Thurn und Taxis (baptized 11 January 1652, Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Spanish Netherlands – 21 February 1714, Frankfurt am Main, Free Imperial City of Frankfurt

Free City of Frankfurt

For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt am Main was a city-state within two major Germanic states:*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt...

, Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

) was the first Prince of Thurn and Taxis

Thurn und Taxis

The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a German family that was a key player in the postal services in Europe in the 16th century and is well known as owners of breweries and builders of many castles.- History :...

, Postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 General of the Imperial Reichspost, and Head of the House of Thurn and Taxis from 13 September 1676 until his death.

Early life

Eugen Alexander Franz was the second son of Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Countess Anna Franziska Eugenia of Horn. The date of his birth is unknown, but Eugen Alexander Franz was baptised on 11 January 1652 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

.

Postmaster General

After the death of his father, Eugen Alexander Franz succeeded to the positions of Postmaster General of the Imperial Reichspost and the Spanish Netherlands. In 1681, the last Habsburg King

Habsburg Spain

Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...

 of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Charles II

Charles II of Spain

Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...

 appointed Eugen Alexander Franz from a count to a prince, and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

 made him an Imperial prince in 1695.

After the French occupation of the Spanish Netherlands during the War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

, the new Spanish King Philip V

Philip V of Spain

Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...

, grandson of Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

, deposed Eugen Alexander Franz as Post Master General of the Spanish Netherlands. In 1702, he moved his postal system's headquarters from Brussels to Frankfurt am Main where it originated.

Marriage and issue

Eugen Alexander Franz was married twice. He married first to Princess Anna Adelheid of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, youngest daughter and child of Hermann Egon, Count of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and his wife Countess Franziska of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen. Eugen Alexander Franz and Anna Adelheid had the following children:

• Countess Dorothea of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1679)
• a son whose name is unknown (born and died in 1680)
• Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis
  Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis
  -Titles and styles:*1681–1695: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Count of Thurn and Taxis*1695 – 21 February 1714: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis...
  
   (1681–1739) married Maria Ludovika Anna Franziska, Princess of Lobkowicz
• Count Jakob Lamoral of Thurn and Taxis (?-?)
• Count Heinrich Franz of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1682)
• Countess Anna Franziska of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1683)
• Countess Eleonora Ferdinanda of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1685)
• Count Inigo Lamoral Maria Felix Franz of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1686)
• Countess Anna Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1689)
• Countess Maria Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1691)

After the death of his first wife, Eugen Alexander Franz married Countess Anna Augusta of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, daughter of Ludwig Gustav, Count of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst and his second wife Anna Barbara von Schönborn. Eugen Alexander Franz and Anna Augusta had the following children:

• Prince Lothar Franz of Thurn and Taxis (1705–1712)
• Prince Maximilian Philipp of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1706)
• Prince Philipp Lamoral of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1708)
• Princess Maria Josepha of Thurn and Taxis (born and died in 1711)

Titles and styles

• 11 January 1652 – 13 September 1676: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Count of Thurn and Taxis
• 13 September 1676–1695: His Serene Highness The Count of Thurn and Taxis
• 1695 – 21 February 1714: His Serene Highness The Prince of Thurn and Taxis

Sources

• Wolfgang Behringer, Thurn und Taxis, Piper, München/Zürich 1990 ISBN 3-492-03336-9
• Martin Dallmeier, Quellen zur Geschichte des europäischen Postwesens 1501−1806, Teil II, Urkunden-Regesten, Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1977
• Martin Dallmeier, in: De post van Thurn und Taxis, La Poste des Tour et Tassis 1489–1794, Brüssel 1982
• Europäische Stammtafeln Band V, Haus Thurn und Taxis, Tafel 129 und 130

External links

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! colspan="3" style="background: #bebebe; color: #000000" | Postal offices