A new book by Charles Alexandre de la Tour et Taxis, a descendant of some of Europe’s most storied nobility, offers a portrait of a family entangled in the drama of twentieth-century Europe. C’était une autre Europe: Souvenirs de ma famille (It Was Another Europe: ...
A new book by Charles Alexandre de la Tour et Taxis, a descendant of some of Europe’s most storied nobility, offers a portrait of a family entangled in the drama of twentieth-century Europe. C’était une autre Europe: Souvenirs de ma famille (It Was Another Europe: Memories of My Family) illuminates a world slowly fading from memory, beautifully conveying a Europe of castles, courtly traditions, and close kinship.
Through the investigation of the author's family tree, we encounter the royal families of Greece and Denmark, the Russian tsars, and the House of Thurn and Taxis, the German princely house that founded and ran the European postal service until 1867. These ancestral ties extend to modern monarchs: King Charles III; Queen Sophie of Spain and her brother (and patron of the Gstaad Yacht Club), Constantine II (1940–2023), King of the Hellenes; Gstaad resident Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (1927– 2005) and her brothers, Kings Baudouin (1930–1993) and Albert II, both pupils at the Gstaad Chalet Marie-José.
A central figure in the author’s maternal heritage is Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962), a celebrated psychoanalyst and disciple of Sigmund Freud's (1856–1939). Through the recounting of some of her notable experiences (including her efforts to protect Freud and others from Nazi persecution), the memoir elucidates the extraordinary pressures placed on Europe’s élite during its darkest wartime hours.
On the paternal side, the memoir celebrates the imaginative and cultural contributions of Marie von Thurn und Taxis (1855–1934), an influential arts patron remembered for hosting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) at her castle and inspiring his masterpiece, the Duino Elegies. The link between the family and some of Europe’s foremost cultural luminaries highlights how interconnected aristocratic, artistic, and intellectual circles were in the mid-twentieth century.
Interwoven with these biographical sketches are vivid recollections of aristocratic family life: summer gatherings in magnificent châteaux, intergenerational relationships, and the challenges and advantages of an aristocratic upbringing. The memoir places as much emphasis on the warmth of cousinade – extended family gatherings – as it does on the political and social machinations of the age. Charles-Alexandre has painted a vivid portrait of a Europe guided by the principles of honour, loyalty, and service to the common good: noblesse oblige.
BY ALAN NAZAR IPEKIAN
C’ÉTAIT UNE AUTRE EUROPE: SOUVENIRS DE MA FAMILLE
(It Was Another Europe: Memories of My Family)
Brigitte Lantz-Sonrel and Charles-Alexandre dela Tour et Taxis
Paperback CHF 40
448 pages
ISBN: 9782080510549
