Reichspost (
German for "
Empire Post") was the name of several
postal authorities in
Germany. It may refer to one of these entities:
Postal authorities
Holy Roman Empire
The
Imperial Reichspost (
Kaiserliche Reichspost) was the name of the country-wide
postal service of the
Holy Roman Empire, founded by Jannetto de Tassis in 1495. The
Bergamascan Tasso family had built up
postal routes throughout
Italy since and Jannetto's uncle Ruggiero had worked for
Frederick III since the mid-15th century. Ruggiero had already connected
Vienna and
Innsbruck with Italy,
Styria, and
Brussels, before Maximilian expanded from those routes throughout his realm. Maximilian's
Philip of
Burgundy appointed Jannetto's brother Francisco as
capitaine et maistre de nos postes in 1502 and it was a payment dispute between the two which caused Francisco to open the family's network to public correspondence in 1506.
Charles V confirmed Jannetto's son Giovanni Battista as Postmaster General (
chief et maistre general de noz postes par tous noz royaumes, pays, et seigneuries) in 1520. 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.