Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Elisabeth, Gräfin zu Erbach

30 Jul 1578 – Obersontheim, 15 Mar 1645

8 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 30 Jul 1578

    Born

  2. 1611–1615

    2 children are born

  3. 15 Mar 1645

    Dies in Obersontheim, aged 66

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 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 1570s · Elisabeth, is born

In the news1575

Smallpox and measles epidemic (1575)

A widespread outbreak of smallpox and measles occurred in Holstein in 1575, severely impacting the lives of local families.

Getting around

Most travel was done on foot

Ordinary people primarily traveled between towns on foot, usually covering about 20 kilometers per day. For longer distances, they relied on walking, although they occasionally hitched rides on wagons belonging to farmers or carters.

In the news1572

Banking house collapse ruins economy (1572)

The collapse of the major merchant and banking house Loitz in Stettin in 1572 caused widespread economic turmoil throughout the region of Pomerania.

Daily life

Cooking with embers and kettles

Kitchens often featured a large metal kettle for boiling, while smaller quantities were baked in bowls placed on a grid and covered with glowing embers.

What people wore

Class-based clothing regulations and currency limits

Strict regulations controlled social class appearance; for example, commoners were forbidden from wearing gold, silver, pearls, or silk. A wife of a commoner could wear a simple gold ring worth no more than five or six guilders, without gemstones.

Music

Professional city musicians, the Stadtpfeifer

Stadtpfeifer, or city pipers, were professional musicians employed by councils to perform on towers, in dance halls, and at public festivities using instruments like shawms, sackbuts, and slide brass.

At the table

Daily beer consumption in northern regions

In northern regions like Münster, beer was the standard everyday beverage, with people consuming between 2 and 3 litres daily. Wine was reserved only for the four most important religious feast days.