Karoline von Hoyos

What people wore

Custom sunshade headscarves

To protect against the sun, women sometimes inserted a strip of paper or cardboard into their headscarves to make the front edge extend further forward.

Getting around

Slow post coach travel between towns

Travel by post coach was slow, with a journey from Linz to Steyr taking ten hours in 1829 for a distance of about 90 kilometers. Passengers paid one gulden and twelve kreuzers for the trip.

At the table

Cheap Barley Coffee Substitute

Poor city dwellers bought a cheap, coffee-like breakfast drink made from roasted barley and syrup for 1 Kreuzer at wooden stalls.

Music

The eight-minute court waltz mandate

By imperial order, a waltz played at a court ball was required to last exactly eight minutes.

Daily life

Mandatory schooling and seasonal attendance

Compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 12 focused on religious instruction, often with schools in rural areas only operating for half the year because children were needed for pastoral labor. Classrooms were frequently overcrowded, leading some schools to split students into morning and afternoon groups to manage attendance.

What it cost

Extreme food price volatility

Food prices in the Austrian Empire were highly volatile during this period, particularly around 1811 when a bushel of wheat cost 60 florins, compared to just 4 florins in 1812 and 1824. Such sharp fluctuations made it difficult for ordinary people to maintain a stable supply of basic grains like wheat and corn.