Agnes Gräfin zu Stolberg-Wernigerode

Getting around

Walking and stagecoaches were standard travel methods

For common people like peasants, students, or soldiers, walking was the most frequent way to travel, covering 20 to 30 kilometers daily. Wealthier travelers used coaches, but a trip from Prague to Vienna still took four to five days under good conditions.

Daily life

Sleeping arrangements in the family home

Large families often slept together in the kitchen on benches or on top of the large oven used for heating and baking. Benches were cleverly designed with backs that tipped forward to prevent children from falling while they slept.

What people wore

Weeks spent on apron embroidery

Embroidering the border of a peasant apron was a demanding task that could take an experienced worker more than an entire week to complete.

Music

The 1830 invention of the polka dance

The polka was invented around 1830 by a Bohemian country girl, with the dance's name derived from the word for half, referencing its signature half-step.

At the table

Poor families ate dark potato dumplings

Poor families made dense dumplings from raw grated potatoes and rye or oat flour, known as blue dumplings or bosáky, which had a dark, slimy appearance.