Marguerite of Schönburg-Glauchau

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.

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.

Getting around

Fast river travel downstream

Travelers could use rivers to move faster, sometimes reaching up to 150 kilometers in 24 hours when traveling downstream.

What it cost

Mass bread distribution during 1572 famine

During the 1572 famine in Nuremberg, the city council distributed 10,400 loaves of bread in a single day to support the needy, accounting for about one-third of the population.

Music

Singing during communal round dances

People often sang while performing round dances in squares or streets, a practice sometimes restricted by city councils to prevent the singing of shameful songs.

Daily life

Beer was safer than water

Drinking water was often unhygienic and contaminated, so beer was frequently consumed instead because brewing made it safer and provided essential calories.