Prince John August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Getting around

Travel by Foot and Early Mail Coaches

Ordinary people typically traveled by walking, as non-private transportation was limited and expensive. Regular mail coach lines for passengers, such as the Nuremberg-Leipzig route, began emerging in the late 17th and 18th centuries.

At the table

Simple meals of porridge, soup, and stew

Ordinary families commonly consumed grain-based porridges and soups for breakfast and dinner, while a hearty stew served as the main midday meal. Meat was expensive, so many households reserved it for special occasions like a Sunday roast.

What people wore

Sumptuary Laws Against Opulent Clothing

Authorities issued sumptuary laws to maintain social hierarchy, often banning lower classes from wearing gold, silver, pearls, silk, or costly furs, with violators risking fines or imprisonment.

Music

High fines for unauthorized trumpet playing

In the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, musicians who performed with unauthorized trumpets or kettledrums at public fairs or taverns faced a fine of fifty Reichsthaler.

Daily life

Lighting, Cooking, and Water Access

Lighting was limited to pine torches, tallow candles, or oil lamps, while cooking was done over an open fire or in masonry hearths with a wide chimney hood to collect smoke. Water was typically obtained from community pump wells.