Name Alexander 3rd | ||
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Period 8 November 1739 – 17 March 1773 Born Died Spouse Margravine Sophie Christine of Brandenburg-BayreuthPrincess Charlotte Louise of LorrainePrincess Maria Henriette Josepha of Furstenberg-Stuhlingen Issue Princess Sophie ChristineKarl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and TaxisPrincess Luise Auguste CharlottePrince Friedrich AugustPrince Ludwig FranzPrincess Maria TheresiaPrincess JosephinePrince Heinrich AlexanderPrince Franz JosephPrincess Maria Anna JosephaPrincess Marie Elisabetha AlexandrinaPrince Maximilian Joseph | ||
Alexander Ferdinand, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: Alexander Ferdinand Furst von Thurn und Taxis (21 March 1704, Frankfurt am Main, Free Imperial City of Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire – 17 March 1773, Regensburg, Free Imperial City of Regensburg, Holy Roman Empire) was the third Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Postmaster General of the Imperial Reichspost, and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 8 November 1739 until his death on 17 March 1773. Karl Anselm served as Principal Commissioner (German: Prinzipalkommissar) at the Perpetual Imperial Diet in Frankfurt am Main and Regensburg for Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor from 1 February 1743 to 1745 and again from 1748 until 1773.
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Early life
Alexander Ferdinand was the eldest child and only son of Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Maria Ludovika Anna Franziska, Princess of Lobkowicz.
Principal Commissioner
From 1 February 1743 to 1745, Alexander Ferdinand served as Principal Commissioner for Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor at the Perpetual Imperial Diet in Frankfurt am Main. When the Diet relocated to Regensburg under Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Alexander Ferdinand was reinstated as Principal Commissioner in 1748. It was for this reason that Alexander Ferdinand moved the principal residence of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from Frankfurt am Main to Regensburg. On 30 May 1754, Alexander Ferdinand was added to the College of Imperial Princes.
Marriages and family
A proposed bride was Johanna of Baden-Baden (1704–1726), only surviving daughter of the late Margrave of Baden-Baden and his wife (Regent of Baden-Baden from 1707) Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg but the match never materialised.
Alexander Ferdinand married Margravine Sophie Christine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, eldest daughter of George Frederick Charles, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and his wife Princess Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, on 11 April 1731 in Frankfurt am Main. Alexander Ferdinand and Sophie Christine had five children:
Alexander Ferdinand married secondly to Louise de Lorraine, third eldest daughter of Louis II of Lorraine-Brionne, Prince of Lambesc and his wife Jeanne Henriette de Durfort, on 22 March 1745 in Paris.
Alexander Ferdinand married thirdly to Princess Maria Henriette Josepha of Furstenberg-Stuhlingen, daughter of Joseph William Ernest, Prince of Furstenberg-Furstenberg and his wife Countess Theresia Anna Maria Eleanore of Waldstein, on 21 September 1750 in Regensburg. Alexander Ferdinand and Maria Henriette Josepha had seven children: