The 20th and 21st centuries are known as the information age. The internet revolutionised almost every aspect of life. The major changes that took place around 1500 also had a lot to do with new ways of disseminating news. The production and distribution of news, information and ideas was revolutionised thanks to two innovations. The printing press made it easier to reproduce information. Around the same time, a more efficient postal system began to be established in the Holy Roman Empire. The story of the Taxis family, who organised this postal service, is an example of the development opportunities offered by the early modern period around 1500. It is closely linked to the Habsburgs and the city of Innsbruck, which for a short time under Emperor Maximilian was not only the royal seat but also the European postal centre.

The Taxis were a Lombard family from the lower nobility. As early as the 13th century, Omodeo de Tasso had set up a courier service between the major Italian cities in northern Italy. There was no reasonably functioning postal system in the Middle Ages, as there had been in ancient Rome. However, when Maximilian made Innsbruck his residence in 1490, he needed the most efficient communication possible within his large empire, which stretched from the Netherlands via Augsburg and Regensburg to Vienna. To this end, he engaged the Compania de Tassis who set up their own permanent relay line with infrastructure and personnel for the emperor. The first postal centre of the modern era in Europe had become the royal seat of Innsbruck. The brothers Janetto, Francesco and Giovanni Battista de Tassis, in German Franz and Johann Baptist von Taxis, were appointed imperial postmasters by Maximilian I. Stations were set up at intervals of 20 - 40 kilometres, so-called PostsThe first of these was set up as a relay service, on which messengers and horses alternated in order to shorten the delivery times for messages. As the Habsburg Empire grew, the demands on the relay service also increased. The network had to reach from Spain to Hungary, from Milan to Brussels. The members of the Taxis family were just as widely spread across Europe as the individual posts.

A few years after Maximilian's death, the Taxis' courier service was also opened up to private mail. On the one hand, this enabled the emperor to reduce the costs of his service, and on the other, it allowed him to spy on other participants in the postal system. In the post offices there were Black chambersin which suspicious letters were opened.

The family's reputation and fortune grew with the task. They had become the operators of the Imperial Post Office and controlled communications in Europe. From 1650, the family called itself Thurn und Taxis. Nothing remained of the old Tasso, or badger.

When the Heilige Römische Reich When the Thurn und Taxis were dissolved in 1806, they were able to claim the postal service for themselves in some German principalities, but things slowly went downhill for their service. The service was increasingly monopolised by the state. In 1908, the new main post office was built in Maximilianstraße in Innsbruck according to the plans of Natale Tommasi. As with railway stations, the architecture of the building was no different from other large post offices within the Habsburg Empire. Those who conducted their postal business as subjects of Emperor Franz Joseph I were to be able to do so between Trento and Lemberg in the same look and feel.

Until 1969, the Old Post Officewhich at times was also owned by the Thurn und Taxis family. After the First World War, they lost their aristocratic privilege. However, many of the castles, estates and palaces throughout Europe are still owned by the family today. Looking at shipping and courier services today, it is clear that the state-monopolised postal service was only a brief interlude in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, UPS, Hermes, DHL & Co characterise this economic sector. Unlike the Taxis family, however, they have to console themselves with filthy lucre and are not elevated to the nobility. The Palais Fugger-Taxis in Innsbruck is still a reminder of the emperor's postmasters.

There is hardly an uncrowned person who had a greater influence on the history of Europe until the 20th century than Jakob Fugger (1459-1525). Not only did his lifetime coincide with that of Emperor Maximilian, the fates of the two men were closely linked. The history of Tyrol was also shaped by the most important financial magnate of his time.

An early form of financial capitalism emerged in the region between Florence, Venice and Milan. Banking began its triumphal march through Europe here in the late Middle Ages. Merchants who did not want to carry vast amounts of cash with them needed so-called bills of exchange in order to carry out their transactions. They therefore began to set up branch offices in the major trading cities. Italian financial institutions also had branches in Innsbruck from the High Middle Ages onwards.

Monarchs and aristocrats in Europe financed their courts and warfare through tithes. This tax was paid by the peasants within the feudal system. Warfare in particular had become more expensive, fuelled by modern firearms. Therefore, this tithe was often no longer sufficient. The legitimisation as God's representative on earth had worked for monarchs up to this point, but around 1500, the sounding coin and interest in the form of financial capitalism slowly but surely began to replace God as the ultimate authority.

Jakob Fugger came from a merchant family in Augsburg. He and his brothers traded cotton with northern Italian cities. On his trading trips to Venice, Fugger learnt the art of double-entry bookkeeping and the intricacies of progressive Italian finance. He quickly realised that there was more to be gained from money transactions and loans than from cotton.

Jakob Fugger's relationship with the House of Habsburg, and in particular with Tyrol, began to intensify in 1487. The Tyrolean sovereign Siegmund was defeated in a military conflict with the Republic of Venice. In order to pay his debt of 100,000 florins to the Mediterranean power, he borrowed money from the Fuggers. In return, he issued promissory notes, which he covered by pledging the Schwaz silver mine to his lenders. Schwaz was the largest silver mine in the world before the development of the American silver mines. The Fuggers sold the Schwaz silver to the Hall mint, which they also owned, and in turn lent these coins to Duke Siegmund. A special kind of cycle was born.

However, this was not the end of the Fuggers' political influence - in fact, it was only just beginning. When the Tyrolean estates deposed Siegmund in 1490 due to his disastrous business behaviour, Maximilian I succeeded him as Prince of Tyrol. Fugger was clever enough to back the new ruler. The word credit, which goes back to the Latin credereThe choice shows that he believed in Maximilian. Fugger believed in a powerful Maximilian as his best asset. He financed Maximilian's election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1493, thereby securing his influence. When Maximilian died in 1519, Fugger repeated this and used his financial power to have Maximilian's grandson Charles V elected emperor. It was also Fugger who sponsored the Vienna double wedding, Maximilian's masterpiece of marriage policy, which made Hungary part of the Habsburg Empire.

It is estimated that at the time of his death, Fugger's financial empire handled around 50% of the Tyrol's state budget and 10% of the assets of the Heiligen Römischen Reiches owned. Jakob Fugger was elevated to the nobility as an expression of his solidarity and probably also of his obligations. His officials managed mines in Tyrol, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain, financed trading expeditions throughout the then known world and numerous wars in Europe. Some historians consider Jakob Fugger to be the richest man in world history. How high his fortune was is difficult to convert to today's standards. When the FAZ made an attempt in 2016, it came up with 300 billion dollars.

In Innsbruck, the Palais Fugger-Taxis and a small alley between Maria-Theresien-Straße and Landhausplatz are reminders of the Fuggers.

Anyone travelling in Austria will be familiar with the domes and onion domes of churches in villages and towns. This form of church tower originated during the Counter-Reformation and is a typical feature of the Baroque architectural style. They are also predominant in Innsbruck's cityscape. Innsbruck's most famous places of worship, such as the cathedral, St John's Church and the Jesuit Church, are in the Baroque style. Places of worship were meant to be magnificent and splendid, a symbol of the victory of true faith. Religiousness was reflected in art and culture: grand drama, pathos, suffering, splendour and glory combined to create the Baroque style, which had a lasting impact on the entire Catholic-oriented sphere of influence of the Habsburgs and their allies between Spain and Hungary.

The cityscape of Innsbruck changed enormously. The Gumpps and Johann Georg Fischer as master builders as well as Franz Altmutter's paintings have had a lasting impact on Innsbruck to this day. The Old Country House in the historic city centre, the New Country House in Maria-Theresien-Straße, the countless palazzi, paintings, figures - the Baroque was the style-defining element of the House of Habsburg in the 17th and 18th centuries and became an integral part of everyday life. The bourgeoisie did not want to be inferior to the nobles and princes and had their private houses built in the Baroque style. Pictures of saints, depictions of the Mother of God and the heart of Jesus adorned farmhouses.

Baroque was not just an architectural style, it was an attitude to life that began after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The Turkish threat from the east, which culminated in the two sieges of Vienna, determined the foreign policy of the empire, while the Reformation dominated domestic politics. Baroque culture was a central element of Catholicism and its political representation in public, the counter-model to Calvin's and Luther's brittle and austere approach to life. Holidays with a Christian background were introduced to brighten up people's everyday lives. Architecture, music and painting were rich, opulent and lavish. In theatres such as the Comedihaus dramas with a religious background were performed in Innsbruck. Stations of the cross with chapels and depictions of the crucified Jesus dotted the landscape. Popular piety in the form of pilgrimages and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints found its way into everyday church life.

The Baroque piety was also used to educate the subjects. Even though the sale of indulgences was no longer a common practice in the Catholic Church after the 16th century, there was still a lively concept of heaven and hell. Through a virtuous life, i.e. a life in accordance with Catholic values and good behaviour as a subject towards the divine order, one could come a big step closer to paradise. The so-called Christian edification literature was popular among the population after the school reformation of the 18th century and showed how life should be lived. The suffering of the crucified Christ for humanity was seen as a symbol of the hardship of the subjects on earth within the feudal system. People used votive images to ask for help in difficult times or to thank the Mother of God for dangers and illnesses they had overcome. Great examples of this can be found on the eastern façade of the basilica in Wilten.

The historian Ernst Hanisch described the Baroque and the influence it had on the Austrian way of life as follows:

„Österreich entstand in seiner modernen Form als Kreuzzugsimperialismus gegen die Türken und im Inneren gegen die Reformatoren. Das brachte Bürokratie und Militär, im Äußeren aber Multiethnien. Staat und Kirche probierten den intimen Lebensbereich der Bürger zu kontrollieren. Jeder musste sich durch den Beichtstuhl reformieren, die Sexualität wurde eingeschränkt, die normengerechte Sexualität wurden erzwungen. Menschen wurden systematisch zum Heucheln angeleitet.“

The rituals and submissive behaviour towards the authorities left their mark on everyday culture, which still distinguishes Catholic countries such as Austria and Italy from Protestant regions such as Germany, England or Scandinavia. The Austrians' passion for academic titles has its origins in the Baroque hierarchies. The expression Baroque prince describes a particularly patriarchal and patronising politician who knows how to charm his audience with grand gestures. While political objectivity is valued in Germany, the style of Austrian politicians is theatrical, in keeping with the Austrian bon mot of "Schaumamal".

Die Werke der Familie Gumpp bestimmen bis heute sehr stark das Aussehen Innsbrucks. Vor allem die barocken Teile der Stadt sind auf die Hofbaumeister zurückzuführen. Der Begründer der Dynastie in Tirol, Christoph Gumpp (1600-1672) war eigentlich Tischler. Sein Talent allerdings hatte ihn für höhere Weihen auserkoren. Den Beruf des Architekten gab es zu dieser Zeit noch nicht. Michelangelo und Leonardo Da Vinci galten in ihrer Zeit als Handwerker, nicht als Künstler. Der Ruhm ihrer Kunstwerke allerdings hatte den Wert italienischer Baumeister innerhalb der Aristokratie immens nach oben getrieben. Wer auf sich hielt, beschäftigte jemand aus dem Süden am Hof. Christoph Gumpp, obwohl aus dem Schwabenland nach Innsbruck gekommen, trat nach seiner Mitarbeit an der Dreifaltigkeitskirche in die Fußstapfen der von Ferdinand II. hochgeschätzten Renaissance-Architekten aus Italien. Auf Geheiß Ferdinands Nachfolger Leopold V. reiste Gumpp nach Italien, um dort Theaterbauten zu studieren- Er sollte bei den kulturell den Ton angebenden Nachbarn südlich des Brenners sein Wissen für das geplante landesfürstliche Comedihaus aufzupolieren. Gumpps offizielle Tätigkeit als Hofbaumeister begann 1633 und er sollte diesen Titel an die nächsten beiden Generationen weitervererben. Über die folgenden Jahrzehnte sollte Innsbruck einer kompletten Renovierung unterzogen werden. Neue Zeiten bedurften eines neuen Designs, abseits des düsteren, von der Gotik geprägten Mittelalters. Die Gumpps traten nicht nur als Baumeister in Erscheinung. Sie waren Tischler, Maler, Kupferstecher und Architekten, was ihnen erlaubte, ähnlich der Bewegung der Tiroler Moderne rund um Franz Baumann und Clemens Holzmeister Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, Projekte ganzheitlich umzusetzen. Johann Martin Gumpp der Ältere, Georg Anton Gumpp und Johann Martin Gumpp der Jüngere waren für viele der bis heute prägendsten Gebäude zuständig. So stammen die Wiltener Stiftskirche, die Mariahilfkirche, die Johanneskirche und die Spitalskirche von den Gumpps.  Neben Kirchen und ihrer Arbeit als Hofbaumeister machten sie sich auch als Planer von Profanbauten einen Namen. Viele der Bürgerhäuser und Stadtpaläste Innsbrucks wie das Taxispalais oder das Alte Landhaus in der Maria-Theresien-Straße wurden von Ihnen entworfen. Das Meisterstück aber war das Comedihaus, das Christoph Gumpp für Leopold V. und Claudia de Medici im ehemaligen Ballhaus plante. Die überdimensionierten Maße des damals richtungsweisenden Theaters, das in Europa zu den ersten seiner Art überhaupt gehörte, erlaubte nicht nur die Aufführung von Theaterstücken, sondern auch Wasserspiele mit echten Schiffen und aufwändige Pferdeballettaufführungen. Das Comedihaus war ein Gesamtkunstwerk an und für sich, das in seiner damaligen Bedeutung wohl mit dem Festspielhaus in Bayreuth des 19. Jahrhunderts oder der Elbphilharmonie heute verglichen werden muss. Das ehemalige Wohnhaus der Familie Gumpp kann heute noch begutachtet werden, es beherbergt heute die Konditorei Munding, eines der traditionsreichsten Cafés der Stadt.