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Archduchess Marie Caroline Ferdinanda of Austria

Vienna, 8 Apr 1801 – Dresden, 22 May 1832

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 8 Apr 1801

    Born in Vienna

  2. 22 May 1832

    Dies in Dresden, aged 31

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

During her lifetime

She lived through 4 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Vienna.

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

The 1800s · Archduchess is born in Vienna

What people wore

Infants restricted in swaddling pillows

In some rural regions, infants were placed in a swaddling pillow for several months to help them grow straight, which prevented them from moving or kicking.

Getting around

Slow post coach travel between towns

Travel by post coach was slow, with a journey from Linz to Steyr taking ten hours in 1829 for a distance of about 90 kilometers. Passengers paid one gulden and twelve kreuzers for the trip.

At the table

Cheap Barley Coffee Substitute

Poor city dwellers bought a cheap, coffee-like breakfast drink made from roasted barley and syrup for 1 Kreuzer at wooden stalls.

The Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon’s armies redrew the map of Europe from Spain to Moscow; his invasion of Portugal sent its court to Rio de Janeiro.In Europe · 1803–1815

The Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon’s armies redrew the map of Europe from Spain to Moscow; his invasion of Portugal sent its court to Rio de Janeiro.

Ruedi33a · CC BY-SA 4.0

Music

The eight-minute court waltz mandate

By imperial order, a waltz played at a court ball was required to last exactly eight minutes.

Daily life

Open hearth cooking and no bathrooms

Cooking was done exclusively on an open hearth or fireplace, as kitchen stoves were not yet invented. Families lived without bathrooms, using the stable or the outdoors instead.

What it cost

Extreme food price volatility

Food prices in the Austrian Empire were highly volatile during this period, particularly around 1811 when a bushel of wheat cost 60 florins, compared to just 4 florins in 1812 and 1824. Such sharp fluctuations made it difficult for ordinary people to maintain a stable supply of basic grains like wheat and corn.