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Sophia Dorothea of Prussia

Berlin, 25 Jan 1719 – Schwedt/Oder, 13 Nov 1765

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 25 Jan 1719

    Born in Berlin

  2. 18 Dec 1736

    A daughter is born

  3. 13 Nov 1765

    Dies in Schwedt/Oder, aged 46

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 1

During her lifetime

She lived through 6 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Berlin.

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

The 1710s · Sophia is born in Berlin

In the news1717

Christmas flood kills 11,000 people

A major storm surge on Christmas claimed over 11,000 lives along the German North Sea coast.

Getting around

Slow Pace of Mail Coach Travel

Travel by mail coach was slow, moving at a walking pace of about 4-5 km/h. A journey from Nuremberg to Leipzig covered roughly 70 hours, and to Regensburg about 20 hours.

At the table

Simple meals of porridge, soup, and stew

Ordinary families commonly consumed grain-based porridges and soups for breakfast and dinner, while a hearty stew served as the main midday meal. Meat was expensive, so many households reserved it for special occasions like a Sunday roast.

War of the Spanish Succession. Europe’s powers fought for thirteen years over who would inherit the Spanish throne; a Bourbon kept it, and Britain gained Gibraltar.In Europe · 1701–1714

War of the Spanish Succession. Europe’s powers fought for thirteen years over who would inherit the Spanish throne; a Bourbon kept it, and Britain gained Gibraltar.

DavidDijkgraaf · CC0

What people wore

Practical Working Clothing and Headwear

Maids wore practical working clothes like shorter skirts, loose bodices, and aprons to move freely while doing heavy chores, while women of all statuses typically wore hair caps for protection and fashion.

Music

The cornett was a popular civic instrument

Town musicians used the versatile cornett, a wooden instrument with finger holes, for both church services and celebratory civic events.

Daily life

Lighting, Cooking, and Water Access

Lighting was limited to pine torches, tallow candles, or oil lamps, while cooking was done over an open fire or in masonry hearths with a wide chimney hood to collect smoke. Water was typically obtained from community pump wells.