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Carl Rudolf Bernadotte Nordenstam

1863–1942

Born
26 Apr 1863, Örebro
Country of birth
Sweden
Died
30 Aug 1942, Oslo
facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth26 Apr 1863, ÖrebroProbable1 source
  • Death30 Aug 1942, OsloProbable1 source
  • ParentCarl XV of SwedenConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Örebro

    Birth, Örebro

  2. Died · Oslo

    Death, Oslo

What was it like?

The world around Örebro, 1863: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Carl was born around the same time as Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Rabindranath Tagore, and Claude Debussy.

Born around the same time

  • Erik Axel Karlfeldt

    1864 · Swedish poet (1864–1931)

  • Rabindranath Tagore

    1861 · Bengali poet, philosopher and polymath (1861–1941)

  • Claude Debussy

    1862 · French classical composer (1862–1918)

  • Richard Strauss

    1864 · German composer and orchestra director (1864–1949)

  • James Naismith

    1861 · Canadian-American coach; inventor of basketball

  • Max Weber

    1864 · German sociologist, philosopher, and political economist (1864–1920)

Fashion

Aprons as mandatory social attire

In parts of Sweden like Dalecarlia, women were expected to wear an apron at all times outside the farm; failing to do so or wearing the wrong one could be seen as immoral or inappropriate, even leading to being barred from church.

Festive red shirts with luxury buttons

In the Lule region, men would sometimes wear a special red shirt or jersey known as a "kreop" on the first day of a church feast, which featured shiny, expensive metal buttons.

Music

Fiddles on every farm

During the mid-1800s, the fiddle was the most common folk instrument, and it is believed there was a fiddle on every farm by the end of the century.

The dominant polska dance

The polska was the dominant and most characteristic dance music style for fiddlers during the mid-19th century.

Getting around

Horse-drawn posting and boat transport

In the mid-19th century, travelers used the government-organized posting system (skyssvesenet) to hire horses and carriages from designated farms, with a boy accompanying them to return the equipment. Along the coast, travelers relied on boat transport (båtskyss) where routes were not connected by road.

Around 1870–1874

Steamboat travel vs. carriages

In the 1870s, travel by steamboat between Umeå and Stockholm was considered more comfortable and cheaper than using horse-drawn carriages on poor country roads, taking four to five days to complete.

Daily life

Homes and heating with cast-iron stoves

In many rural homes, the main room served as a multi-purpose living space where the family gathered around a hearth or, increasingly, a cast-iron stove, which was considered a luxury item. Kitchens began to separate from the living area, though in many homes, the stove remained the primary source of heat for the entire household.

Food

Eating sour milk from common troughs

Peasant families often ate sour milk, known as fillebunke, from a large common wooden trough using individual wooden spoons. They would decorate the surface with ginger and brown sugar before eating.

Work

Agriculture as the primary occupation

In 1870, two-thirds of the population worked in agriculture, making small-scale subsistence farming the most common practice.

News and letters

Growth in postal volume and usage

In Norway, the number of letters sent grew from approximately 1.1 million in 1850 to 7.5 million by 1872, following the 1854 introduction of uniform postage regardless of distance. Despite the telegraph's arrival, high costs meant it was used only for time-sensitive information, leaving mail as the primary communication method.

Around 1850–1859

High cost of sending letters

In the 1850s, a worker's hourly wage was approximately 4 skilling banco, while the single-issue price of the newspaper Aftonbladet was 3 skilling banco. Sending a letter was significantly more expensive than it is today.

During their lifetime

  1. 1868

    Crop failure and famine (1868)

    In 1868, Sweden suffered a general crop failure and famine, which led to an increase in emigration.

  2. 1873

    Introduction of the gold standard (1873)

    Sweden adopted the gold standard in 1873 and replaced the riksdaler with the krona, minted at 1 krona per 100 öre.

  3. 1880

    First telephone network established (1880)

    The first telephone network in Stockholm was built in 1880, following earlier demonstrations of the technology in 1877.

  4. 1909

    Suffrage reform enacted in 1909

    In 1909, Sweden enacted a major suffrage reform that expanded voting rights.

  5. 1918

    Spanish Flu pandemic strikes in 1918

    The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic caused 34,378 deaths in Sweden within one year, the country's highest mortality rate since 1880.

  6. 1921

    Women gain voting rights in 1921

    Women gained the right to vote in national elections in 1921.

Family

Parents

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.