Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

At the table

The rise of potato schnapps

Potato-based schnapps became a widespread and essential daily pleasure for the poor, as it was much cheaper to produce than grain-based spirits. Some observers noted that after market days, many farmers returned home in a state of intoxication.

What people wore

Limited Resources for Rural Children

Children from poorer families often wore clothes made from their parents' discarded garments and frequently went barefoot over stones and stubble during the summer. In some villages, a single umbrella was considered a rare luxury owned by the entire community.

Getting around

High cost of travel

A short stagecoach trip from Berlin to Magdeburg cost four Taler, which was nearly the entire monthly wage of a village schoolteacher.

What it cost

Marriage requirements and net worth

To obtain permission to marry, a couple often needed to prove a minimum net worth of 100 to 200 guilders.

Music

The noisy brummtopf folk instrument

The brummtopf was a peculiar noise-making instrument used by groups of young people during winter festivities; it was made of a small wooden barrel covered with calfskin and played by rubbing horsehair strands inserted into the skin with wet hands.

Daily life

Child labor and rudimentary schooling conditions

Children in rural areas were often tasked with labor, such as preparing and binding daily bundles of fuel for the household fire, a chore that frequently left their hands bleeding. Schooling was frequently held in the teacher's house, where the teacher was often a poorly paid local craftsman.