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At the table

Daily wheat cake despite poverty

In some villages, even the poorest people ate wheat cake daily, fresh from the oven, which was criticized by doctors for supposedly damaging their digestion.

What people wore

Saving fabric with the Magsachte patch

Women saved money on expensive fabric by sewing a hidden patch of coarser linen, called a Magsachte, onto their dresses where it would be covered by an apron.

Getting around

Difficult and slow travel by stagecoach

Traveling by stagecoach in Prussia was often grueling and uncomfortable due to poorly maintained, unpaved roads and cramped, unsprung carriages. A journey from Berlin to Königsberg, spanning 565 kilometers, typically took ten to eleven days by post coach.

Work

Long, demanding days for workers

A weaver's family could start work at 4 a.m. and continue until night, while farm servants (Gesinde) were legally required to submit to their employer's will, sometimes working 16 hours a day in summer. Their diet was often monotonous, frequently consisting only of chicory coffee and potatoes.

Music

The noisy brummtopf folk instrument

The brummtopf was a peculiar noise-making instrument used by groups of young people during winter festivities; it was made of a small wooden barrel covered with calfskin and played by rubbing horsehair strands inserted into the skin with wet hands.

Daily life

Child labor and rudimentary schooling conditions

Children in rural areas were often tasked with labor, such as preparing and binding daily bundles of fuel for the household fire, a chore that frequently left their hands bleeding. Schooling was frequently held in the teacher's house, where the teacher was often a poorly paid local craftsman.