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Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg

Saint Petersburg, 2 Jun 1838 – Pokrovsky Monastery, 26 Apr 1900

10 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born2 Jun 1838, Saint Petersburgor 14 May 1838Records disagree1 source
  • Died26 Apr 1900, Pokrovsky Monasteryor 25 Apr 1900Records disagree1 source
  • FatherDuke Peter of Oldenburgnot verified1 source
  • MotherPrincess Therese of Nassaunot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 2 Jun 1838

    Born in Saint Petersburg

  2. 1856–1864

    2 children are born

  3. 26 Apr 1900

    Dies in Pokrovsky Monastery, aged 61

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During her lifetime

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

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

The 1830s · Duchess is born in Saint Petersburg

In the news1837

First Public Railway Opens in 1837

In 1837, the first public passenger railway opened, running between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo, marking the beginning of the railway age in Russia.

Getting around

Four-day coach journeys between capitals

Traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow by stagecoach took four days of constant travel before the railway was completed.

At the table

Staple Foods of Ordinary Russian Families

Ordinary families primarily ate rye bread and various porridges, with cabbage soup known as shchi being a staple dish served year-round. Meat was a rare luxury for the poor, typically reserved for major holidays like Christmas and Easter, while fish and vegetables were more accessible.

Photography is born. The daguerreotype was presented in Paris: for the first time a face or a street could be kept exactly as it looked.Around the world · 1839

Photography is born. The daguerreotype was presented in Paris: for the first time a face or a street could be kept exactly as it looked.

Unknown · public domain

What people wore

Peasant women's daily and festive attire

Peasant women wore a woolen skirt called a ponyova over a linen shirt, and they protected their hair with headdresses like the soroka, as showing hair was shameful for married women.

Music

Improvisational pliaska dances and percussion

Fast-paced pliaska dances were characterized by individual improvisations, sometimes accompanied by improvised percussion like wooden spoons or metal pots when standard instruments were unavailable.

Daily life

Low rates of peasant literacy and education

Literacy among serfs was extremely low, with estimates not exceeding 1%. Education was largely confined to home training by local sextons or clerks, often limited to reading, writing, and basic arithmetic.