Johannes Erwein Graf von und zu Eltz genannt Faust von Stromberg

What people wore

Four Sets of Traditional Clothes

People traditionally owned four sets of clothes: daily workwear, clothes for ordinary feast days, Sunday attire, and special outfits for high religious holidays. Many people were even buried in their wedding suit, which served as their formal holiday attire.

Daily life

Teaching Eight Grades in One Room

Teachers in one-room schools managed 28 students across 8 grades simultaneously, requiring them to organize four groups that cycled between 15 minutes of direct instruction and 45 minutes of independent work. To ensure lessons were manageable, subjects like history and nature study were taught on a rotating cycle spread over two to three years.

What it cost

Meager food rations in 1946 Vienna

In 1946, the official ration for a normal citizen in Vienna provided only 1,131 calories, far below the 2,200 calories recognized as the minimum to ward off disease.

Music

Traditional Austrian Folk Instruments

Traditional musical instruments used in regional Austrian folk music included violins, harps, zithers, dulcimers, wind instruments, and the diatonic button-key accordion known as the Styrian harmonica.

At the table

Bartering valuables for food

Due to severe food shortages, families often bartered valuable personal items, such as fur coats or jewelry, on the black market just to secure small portions of food.

Work

Working for the American Army

In the mid-1940s, a highly sought-after job was driving jeeps for the American Army, which paid five dollars and a quarter for a 50-hour work week and included a meal without needing ration points.