The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a family of German nobility that is part of the Briefadel. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and became well known as the owner of breweries and commissioner of several castles. The family has resided in Regensburg since 1748 with their seat at St. Emmeram Castle from 1803. The family is one of the wealthiest in Germany, and the current head of the House is Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis.
Small section of the extensive family seat at St Emmeram's Palace in Regensburg, Germany
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as a government monopoly, with a fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is usually in the form of an adhesive postage stamp, but a postage meter is also used for bulk mailing.
A postman collecting mail for delivery
Many early post systems consisted of fixed courier routes. Here, a post house on a postal route in the 19th century Finland
The use of the Scinde Dawk adhesive stamps to signify the prepayment of postage began on 1 July 1852 in the Scinde/Sindh district, as part of a comprehensive reform of the district's postal system.
China 4-cent on 100-dollar silver overprint of 1949