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Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine

Darmstadt, 14 Apr 1933 – Ostend, 16 Nov 1937

8 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 14 Apr 1933

    Born in Darmstadt

  2. 16 Nov 1937

    Dies in Ostend, aged 4

Family

See the tree

Parents

During his lifetime

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

The 1930s · Prince is born in Darmstadt

In the news1935

First electric railway line opened

On May 5, 1935, the national railway company opened Belgium's first electric line between Brussels-Nord and Antwerp-Central.

What people wore

Frugal clothing maintenance habits

People often wore clothing until it was heavily mended; it was not considered shameful to wear a pant with a patch or a sweater with mended elbows. For special occasions, some men would still wear the black jacket and striped trousers they had first worn at their wedding twenty years earlier.

Getting around

Rural goods transport by horse carriages

Despite the growth of automobiles and trucks, horse-drawn carriages remained the dominant method for transporting goods in rural areas.

The Great Depression. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a world depression: banks failed, work vanished and coffee prices collapsed in Brazil.Around the world · 1929–1939

The Great Depression. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a world depression: banks failed, work vanished and coffee prices collapsed in Brazil.

Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · public domain

In the news1933–1938

Car ownership grew slowly between 1933 and 1938

Motorization remained limited in the 1930s, as the number of cars grew from 0.5 million in 1933 to 1.3 million in 1938, yet there were still only 19 cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.

Music

Radio listening became immensely popular

By 1939, radio listening became a widespread habit in Belgium, with the number of radio sets soaring to over 1.15 million.

Daily life

Memorable Survival Tactics and Tools

To save money and ensure winter food supplies, families bought potatoes in bulk, sometimes 1000 kg at once, which were stored in specially prepared cellar bins lined with straw. To carry heavy water buckets from public pumps, people used a 'reep', a modified bicycle wheel without spokes that helped balance the weight and kept the buckets away from their legs.