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Louise Katharina von Langenstein und Gondelsheim

Karlsruhe, 3 Mar 1826 – Neuchâtel, 1 Jan 1900

7 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 3 Mar 1826

    Born in Karlsruhe

  2. 26 Nov 1849

    A son is born

  3. 1 Jan 1900

    Dies in Neuchâtel, aged 73

Family

See the tree

Parents

Children · 1

During her lifetime

She lived through 9 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Karlsruhe.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1820s · Louise is born in Karlsruhe

Around the world1825–1830

The first passenger railway

In England a steam locomotive pulled the first public train in 1825; within decades railways crossed every continent.

At the table

Daily wheat cake despite poverty

In some villages, even the poorest people ate wheat cake daily, fresh from the oven, which was criticized by doctors for supposedly damaging their digestion.

What people wore

Limited Resources for Rural Children

Children from poorer families often wore clothes made from their parents' discarded garments and frequently went barefoot over stones and stubble during the summer. In some villages, a single umbrella was considered a rare luxury owned by the entire community.

Getting around

Difficult and slow travel by stagecoach

Traveling by stagecoach in Prussia was often grueling and uncomfortable due to poorly maintained, unpaved roads and cramped, unsprung carriages. A journey from Berlin to Königsberg, spanning 565 kilometers, typically took ten to eleven days by post coach.

What it cost

Marriage requirements and net worth

To obtain permission to marry, a couple often needed to prove a minimum net worth of 100 to 200 guilders.

Music

Daily castle tower music in Königsberg

City tower musicians performed chorales daily from Königsberg's castle tower, such as 'Ich weiß mein Gott, daß all mein Tun' at 11 am and 'Nun ruhen alle Wälder' at 9 pm.

Daily life

Child labor and rudimentary schooling conditions

Children in rural areas were often tasked with labor, such as preparing and binding daily bundles of fuel for the household fire, a chore that frequently left their hands bleeding. Schooling was frequently held in the teacher's house, where the teacher was often a poorly paid local craftsman.