Caroline Christine of Saxe-Eisenach

What people wore

The Tiphoike hooded cloak

The Tiphoike was a distinctive black hooded cloak worn over the head that functioned as a status symbol, with length and adornment varying between social classes.

Daily life

Seasonal and limited schooling

There was no general compulsory schooling, and children often attended only during winter months because their labor was required for farm work in the summer. Instruction focused primarily on memorizing the Bible and learning to pray, with limited teaching of reading and writing.

News and letters

Chaotic cargo on post wagons

Post wagons often carried a chaotic mix of goods, including barrels, crates, and even unpackaged game like deer or pigs.

Music

Popular wedding dance needed the fiddle

In Weseke, a record from 1662 calls a local musician “Fidicen” (violinist) whose fiddle provided the energy for festivities, and wedding celebrations were incomplete without dancing.

At the table

Alcoholic beverages replaced water for safety

People rarely drank water due to contamination risks, relying instead on wine or beer, which were considered safer because of the fermentation process. Milk was almost exclusively for small children, as most of it was processed into butter and cheese for storage.

Getting around

Water Transport on the Danube

Travel by water was vital, with cargo boats like the Ordinari sailing weekly from Regensburg to Vienna, a journey of 450 kilometers that took at least a week. While downstream travel was faster, upstream journeys were labor-intensive, often requiring horses to tow the boats.

Work

Memorable Facts: Wages and Quotas

Female servants often earned very low wages, with a 1631 list showing they received only about 3.8 Gulden annually, which was 42 percent of the average male servant's wage. Additionally, compulsory labor duties often included specific quotas, such as women being required to spin 6 pounds of flax per year.