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Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein

b. 1949

Born
1 Apr 1949, Vienna
Country of birth
Allied-occupied Austria, today Austria

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
6
sources
1
images and files
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Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Born · Vienna

    Birth, Vienna

What was it like?

The world around Vienna, 1949: 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.

Prince was born the same year as Meryl Streep, Valery Leontiev, and Sigourney Weaver.

Born the same year

  • Meryl Streep

    American actress

  • Valery Leontiev

    Russian singer

  • Sigourney Weaver

    American actress (born 1949)

  • Arsène Wenger

    French football manager (born 1949)

  • Benjamin Netanyahu

    Prime Minister of Israel (born 1949), (1996–1999; 2009–2021; 2022–present)

  • António Guterres

    Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2017

Fashion

Clothing Scarcity Post-War

Following World War II, clothing was so scarce that grandmothers would rip small pullovers apart to re-knit them using only a little extra wool. Children’s shoes that became too small were simply kept in use by cutting the front part open.

Around 1950–1965

Nylon stockings and repair culture

Nylon stockings were a prized luxury, and because they were expensive and fragile, special workshops were established in Vienna to repair runs in them. By 1958, seamless stockings replaced the original seamed version.

Music
Around 1950–1957

Jukeboxes were popular and expensive in Austria

In the 1950s, US jukeboxes became popular in Austrian espresso bars, with 2,790 units installed by 1957. These machines cost between 40,000 and 80,000 Austrian schillings, while a small Steyr-Puch 500 car cost 30,000 schillings.

Traditional Austrian Folk Instruments

Traditional musical instruments used in regional Austrian folk music included violins, harps, zithers, dulcimers, wind instruments, and the diatonic button-key accordion known as the Styrian harmonica.

Getting around
Around 1951–1951

Post-war train travel with occupation checkpoints

In 1951, a train journey through the Mürztal and over the Semmering pass to Vienna still required identification papers for crossing occupation zones, and the trip could take over 1.5 hours.

Around 1950–1959

Transition from bicycles to motorized public transport

In the 1950s, men shifted from cycling to work in cities like Linz toward using new factory buses, public buses, and more frequent trains.

Daily life

Teaching eight grades in one classroom

One-class primary schools in 1946 accommodated 28 children across eight grades in a single small classroom, requiring the teacher to organize 15-minute direct lessons for each group while others performed silent work.

Teaching Eight Grades in One Room

Teachers in one-room schools managed 28 students across 8 grades simultaneously, requiring them to organize four groups that cycled between 15 minutes of direct instruction and 45 minutes of independent work. To ensure lessons were manageable, subjects like history and nature study were taught on a rotating cycle spread over two to three years.

Food

Rising alcohol consumption after 1947

As prosperity grew, alcohol consumption increased rapidly, with per-capita beer consumption doubling from 21.2 liters in 1947 to 41.1 liters by 1950.

Weak coffee in post-war Austria

In the immediate post-war years, Austrians drank Blümchenkaffee, which was so weak that one could see the floral patterns on the bottom of the cup through the liquid.

Prices and wages
Around 1946–1946

Jeep driving jobs were highly desired

In 1946, a jeep driver for the American Army was one of the most sought-after jobs in Vienna, paying 5.25 dollars for a 50-hour week and including one meal a day.

Around 1946–1946

Meager food rations in 1946 Vienna

In 1946, the official ration for a normal citizen in Vienna provided only 1,131 calories, far below the 2,200 calories recognized as the minimum to ward off disease.

Work
Around 1946–1946

Working for the American Army

In the mid-1940s, a highly sought-after job was driving jeeps for the American Army, which paid five dollars and a quarter for a 50-hour work week and included a meal without needing ration points.

Around 1950–1959

Limited household technology for working women

Working women in the 1950s often managed multiple household roles alongside their jobs, but only 23% owned a hoover or fridge, 7% a blender, and 4% a washing machine by 1959.

News and letters

Postage restrictions in late 1949

By late 1949, letters sent between Western Austria and Western Germany could not contain money and were restricted to a maximum weight of 500 grams.

Telegram service limitations in 1949

As of late 1949, international telegrams from Austria could not include money-order, luxury, express, or code services, and urgent telegrams cost double the standard rate.

During their lifetime

  1. 1955

    Austria State Treaty signed in 1955

    In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed, ending the Allied occupation and restoring Austrian sovereignty.

  2. 1959

    First Steyr tractor introduced in 1959

    The introduction of the first Steyr tractors in 1959 revolutionized agricultural work, making many manual farm roles obsolete.

  3. 1961

    Washing machines became household standard in 1961

    In 1961, washing machines became more affordable for broader social classes, transforming household chores for many women.

  4. 1995

    Austria joined European Union in 1995

    Austria joined the European Union in 1995, significantly shifting the country's economic and political landscape.

Family

Parents

Spouses

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.