Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera

Gera, 10 Jun 1572 – Gera, 3 Dec 1635

8 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 10 Jun 1572

    Born in Gera

  2. 1595–1621

    3 children are born

  3. 3 Dec 1635

    Dies in Gera, aged 63

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partners

Children · 3

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Gera.

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

The 1570s · Henry is born in Gera

In the news1575

Smallpox and measles epidemic (1575)

A widespread outbreak of smallpox and measles occurred in Holstein in 1575, severely impacting the lives of local families.

Getting around

Most travel was done on foot

Ordinary people primarily traveled between towns on foot, usually covering about 20 kilometers per day. For longer distances, they relied on walking, although they occasionally hitched rides on wagons belonging to farmers or carters.

In the news1572

Banking house collapse ruins economy (1572)

The collapse of the major merchant and banking house Loitz in Stettin in 1572 caused widespread economic turmoil throughout the region of Pomerania.

Daily life

Beer was safer than water

Drinking water was often unhygienic and contaminated, so beer was frequently consumed instead because brewing made it safer and provided essential calories.

What people wore

Sumptuary Laws Restricting Social Dress

Strict sumptuary laws restricted what citizens could wear based on their social status; for instance, common citizens and artisans were forbidden from using expensive materials like gold, silver, pearls, velvet, or silk. Wives of common citizens were allowed to wear a gold ring valued at no more than five or six guilders and a veil with a golden border no more than two fingers wide.

Music

Wedding musician pay based on social status

City councils regulated the musicians employed for weddings based on social status, with pay for brass and wind players reaching two guilders, while bagpipers and fiddlers received half a guilder.

At the table

Daily beer consumption in northern regions

In northern regions like Münster, beer was the standard everyday beverage, with people consuming between 2 and 3 litres daily. Wine was reserved only for the four most important religious feast days.