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At the table

Kitchen tools for open fire cooking

To save time while cooking soups, housewives used hooks with a sawtooth design to quickly adjust the height of pots over the fire. They also used a specialized iron tool called a Cold Hand to remove hot pots because oven mitts were not yet in use.

What people wore

Women's Caps Served Many Purposes

Most women, regardless of their status, wore a cap as both a fashionable and practical accessory to protect their hair while working near heat or dust.

Getting around

Stagecoach Travel at Walking Speed

In the mid-18th century, the stagecoach was the primary mode of travel for those who could afford it, moving at a walking pace of about 4 to 5 kilometers per hour. A trip from Nuremberg to Leipzig typically took around 70 hours, while the journey from Nuremberg to Regensburg required 20 hours.

What it cost

Wages of common Berlin workers

In Berlin during the second half of the 18th century, a journeyman tailor, mason, or carpenter typically earned 8 to 9 thalers per year. A kitchen maid earned between 8 and 18 thalers annually plus a small food allowance.

Music

Popular instruments and dances for festivals

In the late 18th century, common people enjoyed dancing to instruments such as the violin, clarinet, horn, bass, hammered dulcimer, and bagpipe, often played by small groups at fairs, weddings, and festivals.

Daily life

Open Hearth Cooking and Pump Well Water

Cooking took place in the living room over an open fireplace or a masonry hearth with a recessed grate, using wood or brown coal for fuel. Drinking water was typically sourced from communal pump wells located in the village center.