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Heinrich Schenk von Limpurg

Obersontheim, 2 Feb 1573 – Obersontheim, 13 May 1637

7 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 2 Feb 1573

    Born in Obersontheim

  2. 1611–1615

    2 children are born

  3. 13 May 1637

    Dies in Obersontheim, aged 64

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Obersontheim.

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

The 1570s · Heinrich is born in Obersontheim

In the news1575

Smallpox and measles epidemic (1575)

A widespread outbreak of smallpox and measles occurred in Holstein in 1575, severely impacting the lives of local families.

Getting around

Most travel was done on foot

Ordinary people primarily traveled between towns on foot, usually covering about 20 kilometers per day. For longer distances, they relied on walking, although they occasionally hitched rides on wagons belonging to farmers or carters.

In the news1572

Banking house collapse ruins economy (1572)

The collapse of the major merchant and banking house Loitz in Stettin in 1572 caused widespread economic turmoil throughout the region of Pomerania.

Daily life

Beer was safer than water

Drinking water was often unhygienic and contaminated, so beer was frequently consumed instead because brewing made it safer and provided essential calories.

What people wore

Class-based clothing regulations and currency limits

Strict regulations controlled social class appearance; for example, commoners were forbidden from wearing gold, silver, pearls, or silk. A wife of a commoner could wear a simple gold ring worth no more than five or six guilders, without gemstones.

Music

Professional city musicians, the Stadtpfeifer

Stadtpfeifer, or city pipers, were professional musicians employed by councils to perform on towers, in dance halls, and at public festivities using instruments like shawms, sackbuts, and slide brass.

At the table

Rare Festive Pastries

For ordinary families, sweet pastries fried in fat, known as Nonnenfürzle, were rare festive delicacies served on special occasions like church festivals. They were made from choux pastry and, according to local tradition, were named for the hissing sound they made as steam escaped in the hot fat.