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Erich von Waldburg zu Zeil

1899–1953

Born
21 Aug 1899, Stuttgart
Country of birth
German Empire, today Germany
Died
24 May 1953, Leutkirch im Allgäu
facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Born · Stuttgart

    Birth, Stuttgart

  2. Child born: Georg von Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg

    Birth, Würzburg

  3. Child born: Alois von Waldburg-Zeil

    Birth, Leutkirch im Allgäu

  4. Died · Leutkirch im Allgäu

    Death, Leutkirch im Allgäu

What was it like?

The world around Stuttgart, 1899: 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.

Erich was born the same year as Ernest Hemingway, Alfred Hitchcock, and Humphrey Bogart.

Born the same year

  • Ernest Hemingway

    American author and journalist (1899–1961)

  • Alfred Hitchcock

    British filmmaker (1899–1980)

  • Humphrey Bogart

    American actor (1899–1957)

  • Piero Dusio

    Italian racing driver (1899-1975)

  • Jorge Luis Borges

    Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator (1899–1986)

  • Huang Xianfan

    Chinese historian, ethnologist and educator (1899-1982)

Fashion

Distinctive vests signaled marital status in Betzingen

In Betzingen, married men wore black velvet vests, while unmarried men wore red cloth vests with twelve silver buttons. Bachelors also traditionally displayed a red handkerchief from their pocket when searching for a bride.

Rural and urban wedding attire customs

In rural areas, brides traditionally wore black dresses that could be reused for other festive occasions, while white wedding dresses became popular in cities late in the century. Brides traditionally wore a white veil with a myrtle wreath as a symbol of virginity.

Music

Costs for attending local festival banquets

Citizens often paid an entry fee of 20 to 30 Pfennig to attend local festive banquets, which featured patriotic music, choral performances, and speeches.

Diverse musical repertoires in cities

Musical life was diverse, blending folk music and rustic dances with military band repertoires that featured marches, operetta tunes, and original works.

Getting around

City carriage travel rates

Local carriage travel in cities like Barmen and Elberfeld was common, with a non-stop ride costing 50 Pfennig for up to two people, or 1 Mark for a half-hour ride.

Steamship travel on the Weser River

By the late 19th century, steamships on the Weser river were a popular tourist attraction, with the upstream journey from Hamelin to Münden taking 15 hours and 30 minutes, and the downstream journey taking 8 hours and 29 minutes.

Daily life
Around 1900–1914

Crowded urban living conditions

Many urban families lived in crowded tenements called Mietskasernen, where up to six people often shared a single room that served as a kitchen, living area, and bedroom. Toilet facilities were typically located in the courtyard or on an intermediate floor.

Around 1900–1918

Schooling experiences for children

Students often sat four to a bench, and in under-resourced schools, a candle might be used for light on dark mornings. Children carried their books and lunch in long tin satchels, and many were noted for wearing spectacles.

Food
Around 1900–1918

Alcohol Consumption Among Children

In many households, children drank beer as part of their daily diet, with some reports noting that even 12-year-olds consumed a glass of beer. In rural areas, children were sometimes given diluted wine, which was believed to help them grow and develop facial hair.

Meat was a luxury for working families

In working-class households, meat—often cheap sausage or ground meat—was a luxury, frequently reserved for Sunday meals, and sometimes stretched with breadcrumbs to make meat-like dishes like fake rabbit. Men, seen as the primary providers, often received the largest portions of meat, while wives and children ate significantly less.

Prices and wages
Around 1900–1900

Cost of basic food items

Around 1900, one kilogram of pork cost about 1.50 marks, while horse meat was available for 50 pfennigs. A kilogram of rye bread cost 23 pfennigs, and one kilogram of coffee was a luxury item priced at 4.15 marks.

Around 1900–1900

Household costs and coffee prices

At the turn of the century, a simple wooden chair cost around 3.75 Mark, which was less than the price of one kilogram of coffee at 4.15 Mark.

Work

Long hours for rural workers

Rural laborers in eastern Germany could work up to 18 or 19 hours a day during summer, including rest periods, often starting at 3 a.m. to feed horses and not returning home until 9 p.m. or later. In contrast, winter work was restricted to daylight hours, typically running from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The factory workday and wages

In a machine factory around 1890, the standard workday lasted 11 hours, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending 12 hours later, interrupted only by a 20-minute coffee break and a one-hour lunch break. Workers commonly earned weekly wages ranging from 12 to 30 marks, though fines for tardiness or absences were often deducted directly from these earnings.

News and letters
Around 1900–1914

Frequent mail deliveries in German cities

In the German Empire, the mail service was exceptionally efficient, with metropolitan areas receiving up to eleven mail deliveries per day and mailboxes emptied up to eight times daily.

Berlin Pneumatic Tube Delivered Messages Within Hours

The pneumatic tube system in Berlin used air pressure to send messages at 50 km/h, allowing letters to be delivered within the city in about one hour.

During their lifetime

  1. 1910

    Life expectancy rose to 47 years by 1910

    By 1910, advancements in medicine, hygiene, and infrastructure, such as improved water and sewage systems, increased the average life expectancy to 47 years, compared to 37 years in 1871.

  2. 1914

    Ten percent of households accessed electricity by 1914

    By 1914, approximately ten percent of German households had access to electricity, transforming daily life through new lighting and urban infrastructure.

  3. 1918

    Women gained suffrage in 1918 Weimar reforms

    Following the 1918 proclamation of the Weimar Republic, a new democratic system was established that enfranchised women and mandated an eight-hour workday for laborers.

  4. 1923

    Currency restabilization fueled economic recovery by 1927

    Following the restabilization of the currency in late 1923, Germany secured 800 million gold marks in foreign loans by 1927, which helped industrial production return to 1913 levels.

  5. 1933

    Car ownership grew slowly between 1933 and 1938

    Motorization remained limited in the 1930s, as the number of cars grew from 0.5 million in 1933 to 1.3 million in 1938, yet there were still only 19 cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.

Family

Spouses

Children

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.