Thurn & Taxis Post Office,
19th century
“High on the yellow stage coach, I am next to the coachman. Steadily the horses trod forward, merrily sounds the horn!”
This is how a well-known German folksong describes the journey with a stagecoach – a reminiscence of a time when letters, documents and parcels were still brought by horse or carriage. And they were also brought to and collected from here at the half-timbered building, which used to be the “Thurn and Taxis Post Office” in the 19th century.
But what actually was the “Thurn und Taxis Post”? Franz von Taxis is considered to be the founder of the modern postal system. About 1490 he was commissioned by the Habsburg Aristocracy to build up a reliable network of couriers. Soon he had established an impressive network of riders, carriages and messengers that reached as far as from Sicily to the Netherland and from Vienna to Lisbon. This way it was finally possible to send messages from city to city with let’s say some degree of reliability. Or – “high on the yellow stage coach!” – to travel by post carriage. For instance here to Nierstein – to the Thurn und Taxis Post Office on the market square. Today the cars and uniforms of the German Post are still colored yellow and black – the original colors of Franz von Taxis.
And just to mention it: in 1863, the Nierstein fire brigade had an exercise here and took a picture of it. It gives a good impression of the times back then! Have a look at historic photo on the website for this stop on your smartphone.
The next stop is again on the other side of the street. The former Palatinate Collection, or today winery Klein.
Route to the next station:
Palatinate Collection
Arrived?
Thurn & Taxis Post Office,
19th century
“High on the yellow stage coach, I am next to the coachman. Steadily the horses trod forward, merrily sounds the horn!”
This is how a well-known German folksong describes the journey with a stagecoach – a reminiscence of a time when letters, documents and parcels were still brought by horse or carriage. And they were also brought to and collected from here at the half-timbered building, which used to be the “Thurn and Taxis Post Office” in the 19th century.
But what actually was the “Thurn und Taxis Post”? Franz von Taxis is considered to be the founder of the modern postal system. About 1490 he was commissioned by the Habsburg Aristocracy to build up a reliable network of couriers. Soon he had established an impressive network of riders, carriages and messengers that reached as far as from Sicily to the Netherland and from Vienna to Lisbon. This way it was finally possible to send messages from city to city with let’s say some degree of reliability. Or – “high on the yellow stage coach!” – to travel by post carriage. For instance here to Nierstein – to the Thurn und Taxis Post Office on the market square. Today the cars and uniforms of the German Post are still colored yellow and black – the original colors of Franz von Taxis.
And just to mention it: in 1863, the Nierstein fire brigade had an exercise here and took a picture of it. It gives a good impression of the times back then! Have a look at historic photo on the website for this stop on your smartphone.
The next stop is again on the other side of the street. The former Palatinate Collection, or today winery Klein.
Route to the next station:
Palatinate Collection
Arrived?