Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria

What people wore

Traditional dress of Austrian peasants

Upper Austrian peasants commonly wore dark-gray jackets, red waistcoats with spherical metal buttons, and black leather breeches. They completed the outfit with tight buskins and broad-brimmed, shallow-crowned round hats.

Getting around

Stagecoach limits: ~37 km/day

Stagecoaches were limited by roads and track spacing, managing only about 37 km per day on average in early modern conditions.

At the table

Staple diet of ordinary people

Ordinary people rarely ate meat and relied instead on flour-based dishes, legumes like peas, beans, and lentils, and porridges made from millet, oats, or barley.

Music

The Rise of Domestic Music-Making

As the Court moved away from grand operas, domestic music-making became a popular private pastime, with families and royals often playing instruments like the clavier, viola, and violoncello.

Daily life

Shared urban living in cramped quarters

For ordinary residents, homes were often cramped rented rooms in multi-story buildings where daily tasks like cooking, sleeping, and working were all performed in the same limited space. Families relied on neighborhood wells and fountains for water and had to manage heating through tiled stoves that required constant attention.

What it cost

Jewelry cost 307 gulden in 1755

A gold smith received 307 gulden for jewelry for a wedding in 1755, demonstrating the high cost of luxury items in the mid-18th century.