Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Prince Otto of Thurn und Taxis

28 May 1840 – 6 Jul 1878

7 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 28 May 1840

    Born

  2. 6 Jul 1878

    Dies, aged 38

Family

See the tree

Parents

During his lifetime

He lived through 4 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1840s · Prince is born

In the news1844

Weaver uprising in 1844

Handloom weavers in Upper Silesia led a famous protest against their publishers due to harsh competition from mechanized factories.

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

Railways revolutionized travel speeds

The emergence of railways in the 1840s revolutionized travel, drastically reducing journey times compared to stagecoaches. For instance, the Cologne-Minden route, which previously took over 60 hours by coach, could be covered in 9 hours by train by 1847.

The Revolutions of 1848. Uprisings spread from Paris to Vienna, Berlin and Milan; most were put down, but serfdom ended in Austria.In Europe · 1848

The Revolutions of 1848. Uprisings spread from Paris to Vienna, Berlin and Milan; most were put down, but serfdom ended in Austria.

Horace Vernet · public domain

In the news1846–1847

Hunger crisis of 1846-1847

A severe potato blight caused a major hunger crisis across Europe, leading to unrest in Prussian markets and bakeries.

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.