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Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau

Dessau, 24 Jun 1824 – Hummelshain, 23 Oct 1897

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 24 Jun 1824

    Born in Dessau

  2. 2 Aug 1854

    A daughter is born

  3. 23 Oct 1897

    Dies in Hummelshain, aged 73

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Dessau.

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

The 1820s · Princess is born in Dessau

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

Saving fabric with the Magsachte patch

Women saved money on expensive fabric by sewing a hidden patch of coarser linen, called a Magsachte, onto their dresses where it would be covered by an apron.

Getting around

Faster express coaches were costly

The introduction of the "Diligence" or express post coach in 1821 allowed for faster travel at speeds of around 10 km/h, making trips of 100 km possible in a single day. However, travel remained expensive, with a short trip from Berlin to Magdeburg costing four talers, nearly a schoolteacher's monthly salary.

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

Daily lighting and water access challenges

Lighting was scarce and provided by tallow candles, oil lamps, or pine splinters that were often held in the hearth. Water for daily needs was typically retrieved from village pumps or springs, and chores like fetching water could be time-consuming, requiring one to wait for buckets to fill under a slow stream.