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Johann Georg, Chevalier de Saxe

Dresden, 21 Aug 1704 – Dresden, 25 Feb 1774

8 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 21 Aug 1704

    Born in Dresden

  2. 25 Feb 1774

    Dies in Dresden, aged 69

Family

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Parents

During his lifetime

He lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Dresden.

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

The 1700s · Johann is born in Dresden

In the news1709

Great famine after the 1709 winter

A severe winter caused the Bodensee to freeze completely, leading to widespread crop failures and famine across Europe.

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

Sumptuary Laws Against Opulent Clothing

Authorities issued sumptuary laws to maintain social hierarchy, often banning lower classes from wearing gold, silver, pearls, silk, or costly furs, with violators risking fines or imprisonment.

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.