Marie Christine Felizitas of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim

What people wore

Men's multi-functional hat design

The Winkelmann hat for men featured an integrated fabric bag designed to carry items like a prayer book, bread, and a hip flask.

Daily life

Poor lighting in winter homes

During the winter, homes were lit by poor-quality light from resin torches, tallow candles, or oil lamps with open flames.

News and letters

Cost of sending a letter in 1693

In 1693, sending a standard letter from Güstrow to Hamburg cost 4 Schilling (ßl.).

Music

Popular wedding dance needed the fiddle

In Weseke, a record from 1662 calls a local musician “Fidicen” (violinist) whose fiddle provided the energy for festivities, and wedding celebrations were incomplete without dancing.

At the table

Porridge was the primary warm meal

Porridge made from oats or millet was the most important warm meal, often prepared in large batches and reheated, which gave it a tough, semi-solid consistency. People typically ate directly from a common bowl at the center of the table using their hands or a wooden spoon.

Getting around

Water Transport on the Danube

Travel by water was vital, with cargo boats like the Ordinari sailing weekly from Regensburg to Vienna, a journey of 450 kilometers that took at least a week. While downstream travel was faster, upstream journeys were labor-intensive, often requiring horses to tow the boats.

Work

Common Jobs in Rural Villages

Most common occupations were in agriculture, including fullholders, smallholders, and landless laborers like cottars (Seldner) and day laborers who often combined farming with small-scale craft or wage work. Female labor was essential and included tasks like spinning, sewing, agricultural labor, and working as live-in maidservants.