Prince August, 3rd Prince of Koháry

What people wore

Custom sunshade headscarves

To protect against the sun, women sometimes inserted a strip of paper or cardboard into their headscarves to make the front edge extend further forward.

Getting around

Walking and river travel habits

In the early 19th century, people frequently traveled on foot, with messengers and workers walking between 25 and 40 kilometers daily. On the Danube, cargo boats called ordinari took at least a week to travel the 450 kilometers from Regensburg to Vienna.

At the table

Price of Beef in Vienna

In Vienna, beef cost 7 Kreuzer per pound during this period, though prices fluctuated depending on the harvest and other circumstances.

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

Mandatory schooling and seasonal attendance

Compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 12 focused on religious instruction, often with schools in rural areas only operating for half the year because children were needed for pastoral labor. Classrooms were frequently overcrowded, leading some schools to split students into morning and afternoon groups to manage attendance.

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.