Interesting. I don't know anything about German history but very recently I was trying to evaluate a flintlock pistol my father left me and the inscription on the barrel reads: "Pr Taxis Drg Regim 56I". I found one exactly like it on the web, except that one is an officer's model with a lot of mother of pearl adornment, and the description reads:
"A rare officer's pistol of the Prinz Taxis Dragoons,
Suhl, circa 1740. Round barrel with smooth bore in cal. 17 mm. Mounted brass front sight, over chamber marked "Pr. Taxis Drg. Reg:26". Flintlock with flat plate, Suhl hen marke with letter "T" below frizzen spring. Walnut stock with fine inlays of engraved ivory and tin wire (small blemishes). Finely engraved brass furniture, original wooden ramrod with brass tip. Length 52.5 cm.
Extremely rare weapon of an early Palatinate dragoon regiment, the contemporary high-quality decoration indicates a high-ranking officer's weapon.
The Palatinate dragoon regiment Max Emanuel von Thurn und Taxis was established in 1730. It took part in the Austrian war of succession as part of the Palatinate support corps and was already disintegrated in 1743."
I never have heard of the Palatinates. Who or what exactly were they?