Thurn and Taxis Feldwebel

Thurn and Taxis Feldwebel

Imperial era German rank insignia included the use of large buttons worn on collars. Each button indicated the state of issue like Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria etc. The size of the button varied according to rank. I have never seen a list of all the known buttons so I am not sure if all the states issued buttons. Until recently I have only seen buttons from the larger states. About twenty years ago I bought two buttons illustrated here with the the most intricate coat of arms I have ever seen on a button. By size the buttons must have been for a “Feldwebel” (sergeant.) They look German but I could not pin down the arms until recently when I was paging through my book on German medals by Nimmergut. In his 19th edition he begins each state listing with a full color illustration of the state’s coat of arms and there it is Thurn and Taxis. This was a wealthy family with extensive land holdings throughout the Holy Roman Empire. In 1516 the Emperor Maximilian charged the family to develop the first postal service between Vienna and Brussels. By the late 1800’s their estates where mainly in Wuerttemberg close to the city of Ulm. How much of an army did they have?