Christian Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

At the table

Daily Porridge Habits

Because meat was expensive and rarely eaten, families often relied on a thick, long-cooking grain porridge as their primary warm meal. To stretch the food, they frequently reheated it, resulting in a thick, semi-solid consistency.

What people wore

Hat with a hidden storage bag

The Scheessel Winkelmann hat was designed with a secret fabric bag inside, which allowed the wearer to carry a hymnal, bread, and a flask while on the go.

Getting around

Travel speeds for foot passengers

Most travelers were foot passengers who could expect to cover about 100 kilometers in a week, accounting for rest days and potential travel obstacles like bad weather or floods.

Work

Regulated Hours for Urban Construction Workers

Construction workers like stonecutters and carpenters worked under municipal regulations that strictly governed their daily wages and their arrival and departure times for work. These rules were officially decreed by city councils to maintain order in the building trades.

Music

Musical Cradle Devotions and Festive Processions

During Christmas, Jesuits organized cradle devotions, where a constructed cradle containing a figure of the Christ child was rocked to the sound of music. Music was also used in processions, often involving bells, trumpets, military drums, and even the discharge of muskets and cannons.

Daily life

Dark and smoky rural homes

Rural homes often lacked chimneys, causing smoke from open hearths to fill living areas with poor air. Many houses were dark, with only small windows or simple peep-holes.