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Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Celle, 11 Jan 1570 – Birkenfeld, 15 Aug 1649

9 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 11 Jan 1570

    Born in Celle

  2. 1591–1598

    3 children are born

  3. 15 Aug 1649

    Dies in Birkenfeld, aged 79

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 3

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Celle.

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

The 1570s · Dorothea is born in Celle

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

Uncomfortable carriage travel for the wealthy

While carriages existed, they were largely used by the sick or wealthy, as they were uncomfortable, unsprung, and known for their squeaky axles.

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

Wedding musician pay based on social status

City councils regulated the musicians employed for weddings based on social status, with pay for brass and wind players reaching two guilders, while bagpipers and fiddlers received half a guilder.

At the table

Rare Festive Pastries

For ordinary families, sweet pastries fried in fat, known as Nonnenfürzle, were rare festive delicacies served on special occasions like church festivals. They were made from choux pastry and, according to local tradition, were named for the hissing sound they made as steam escaped in the hot fat.