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Duke Adolf of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

1785–1821

Born
18 Dec 1785, Ludwigslust
Country of birth
Germany
Died
8 May 1821, Magdeburg
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Ludwigslust

    Birth, Ludwigslust

  2. Died · Magdeburg

    Death, Magdeburg

What was it like?

The world around Ludwigslust, 1785: 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.

Duke was born around the same time as Carl Maria von Weber, Friedrich Fröbel, and Niccolò Paganini.

Born around the same time

  • Carl Maria von Weber

    1786 · German Romantic composer (1786–1826)

  • Friedrich Fröbel

    1782 · German educator

  • Niccolò Paganini

    1782 · Italian violinist and composer (1782–1840)

  • Daniel François Esprit Auber

    1782 · French composer (1782-1871)

  • Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

    1786 · French poet and novelist

  • Martin Van Buren

    1782 · president of the United States from 1837 to 1841

Fashion

Men’s Sunday Black Coat

Working men typically wore a simple black coat called a Rock for their Sunday attire, which was usually fastened with hooks rather than buttons.

Music

Festival courtship and entertainment

During town fairs, young men purchased sweets and confections for their sweethearts, with the lover placing the first piece into the girl's mouth. Young people also frequented local inns to enjoy dancing, singing, and string music.

Instruments used by common people

Ordinary people commonly played instruments like the fiddle, clarinet, horn, bass, hammered dulcimer, and bagpipes at dances and festivals. Occasionally, other instruments such as the harp, bassoon, oboe, flute, hurdy-gurdy, jew's harp, and zither were also used.

Getting around

Slow speeds on poor road networks

Stagecoaches traveled at a walking pace of only 4 to 5 km/h, stopping every 15 to 30 kilometers at relay stations to change horses and passengers. Due to the poor conditions of the roads, these journeys were often exhausting and prone to accidents.

Daily life

Cooking on open hearths without ovens

Ordinary people typically relied on open fires or basic hearths without ovens for cooking, as these were common in the region before the introduction of modern stoves around 1800. Daily meals were seasonal and often consisted of dairy products, grain-based dishes, and limited meat, with lard being used extensively.

Structured school lessons for children

Children typically began attending school at age six and received two hours of daily instruction, while older children attended for four hours in the morning. Education focused on reading, writing, arithmetic, and religious instruction, with some schools incorporating geography, nature study, and health science.

Food

Beer and bread soups were common daily fare

For servants and laborers, meals often featured a weak top-fermented beer, similar to Berliner Weiße, and bread soaked in liquid, such as milk or whey.

Coffee and cheap surrogates were daily staples

By the late 18th century, coffee became a common daily necessity for ordinary people, often mixed with cheap surrogates like chicory or roasted rye and barley to stretch the expensive beans.

Prices and wages

Regulation of Labor and Wages in Coburg

In the Principality of Coburg, official regulations governed the daily wages for servants, day laborers, and various craftsmen like carpenters, masons, and plasterers.

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.

Work

Common Jobs in Rural Coburg

Common jobs in rural areas included agricultural laborers, day laborers, craftsmen like weavers, tailors, and cobblers, as well as domestic servants employed by noble estates. Many families combined small-scale farming with craft work or day labor to survive.

Daily Work Routines and Physical Toil

The working day typically began at daybreak and continued until nightfall, often requiring labor seven days a week to earn a living. Women and girls were expected to perform demanding tasks, such as threshing grain with flails and carrying up to 100 pounds of water in back-mounted tubs.

News and letters

Stagecoach speed at walking pace

Stagecoaches traveled at a walking pace of 4 to 5 km/h, though express coaches could eventually double or triple this speed.

Around 1775–1775

Postal shipping costs in 1775

In 1775, shipping a one-hundredweight parcel or carrying one person on the route between Nuremberg and Erlangen cost 1 Gulden.

During their lifetime

  1. 1794

    Unified Prussian civil law code enacted

    A unified civil law code for Prussia was developed, ultimately taking effect in 1794 to ensure more honest and efficient justice.

  2. 1812

    Jews granted citizenship in 1812

    Prussia passed an edict that granted Jews citizenship, ending their status as protected subjects with special taxes.

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.