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Louise of Hesse-Kassel

1817–1898

Born
7 Sep 1817, Kassel
Country of birth
Germany
Died
29 Sep 1898, Bernstorff Palace
facts
8
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 · Kassel

    Birth, Kassel

  2. Child born: Frederik VIII of Denmark

    Birth, Yellow Palace

  3. Child born: Alexandra of Denmark

    Birth, Yellow Palace

  4. Child born: George I of Greece

    Birth, Copenhagen

  5. Child born: Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)

    Birth, Yellow Palace

  6. Child born: Thyra, Crown Princess of Hanover

    Birth, Yellow Palace

  7. Child born: Prince Valdemar of Denmark

    Birth, Bernstorff Palace

  8. Event · Consort of Denmark

    Event

  9. Died · Bernstorff Palace

    Death, Bernstorff Palace

What was it like?

The world around Kassel, 1817: 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.

Louise was born the same year as Theodor Mommsen, Theodor Storm, and Niels Gade.

Known for

Titles held

  • Consort of Denmark1863–1898
Born the same year

  • Theodor Mommsen

    German classical scholar and historian (1817–1903)

  • Theodor Storm

    German writer (1817–1888)

  • Niels Gade

    Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher (1817–1890)

  • Fanny Cerrito

    Italian ballet dancer (1817–1909)

  • Henry David Thoreau

    American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)

  • Baháʼu'lláh

    founder of the Bahá'í Faith (1817–1892)

Fashion

Industrious Spinning in Rural Winter Life

Young women in rural Prussia were often famous for their industriousness, frequently spinning two or even three pieces of yarn daily after completing their domestic chores and farm work. This spinning took place in communal spinning rooms, which served as the center of winter life.

Limited Resources for Rural Children

Children from poorer families often wore clothes made from their parents' discarded garments and frequently went barefoot over stones and stubble during the summer. In some villages, a single umbrella was considered a rare luxury owned by the entire community.

Music

Singing at church and parish gatherings

For many people in the Prussian lands, Sunday church service was a weekly routine, and singing could also happen at church occasions. Beyond worship, people spent leisure time with games like bowling and cards, and with dancing at local fairs and shooting festivals.

Around 1825–1849

The noisy brummtopf folk instrument

The brummtopf was a peculiar noise-making instrument used by groups of young people during winter festivities; it was made of a small wooden barrel covered with calfskin and played by rubbing horsehair strands inserted into the skin with wet hands.

Getting around
Around 1819–1819

Berlin travel times in 1819

In 1819, a traveler starting from Berlin could reach Potsdam in four hours by stagecoach, while Leipzig took 23 hours.

High cost of travel

A short stagecoach trip from Berlin to Magdeburg cost four Taler, which was nearly the entire monthly wage of a village schoolteacher.

Daily life

Daily lighting and water access challenges

Lighting was scarce and provided by tallow candles, oil lamps, or pine splinters that were often held in the hearth. Water for daily needs was typically retrieved from village pumps or springs, and chores like fetching water could be time-consuming, requiring one to wait for buckets to fill under a slow stream.

Seasonal schooling and untrained teachers

Compulsory primary schooling existed, but children often only attended school in winter because they were needed for farm work and animal herding the rest of the year. Teachers were often untrained individuals, such as former soldiers or weavers, who were appointed by local churches.

Food

Potatoes as the staple food

Ordinary rural families typically ate three meals a day, relying heavily on potatoes, buckwheat porridge, or milk with bread. Potatoes were so central to the diet that they were often eaten boiled in their jackets, sometimes without salt.

The rise of potato schnapps

Potato-based schnapps became a widespread and essential daily pleasure for the poor, as it was much cheaper to produce than grain-based spirits. Some observers noted that after market days, many farmers returned home in a state of intoxication.

Prices and wages

Marriage requirements and net worth

To obtain permission to marry, a couple often needed to prove a minimum net worth of 100 to 200 guilders.

Work

The daily life of servants

The 1810 master and servant code permitted corporal punishment of servants and required them to submit to the master's will in all tasks. Servants lived in the employer's household, often sleeping in chambers above stables, and shared meals at the farmer's table.

Common jobs in rural Prussia

By 1800, free agricultural laborers were the largest group in the rural workforce, while live-in servants (Gesinde) also performed essential domestic and farm duties.

During their lifetime

  1. 1834

    Zollverein customs union founded in 1834

    The Zollverein was founded to eliminate customs duties between German states, fostering economic integration under Prussian leadership.

  2. 1842

    Freedom of movement laws in 1842

    Prussia introduced new laws enabling greater freedom of movement and settlement for individuals not dependent on public relief.

  3. 1844

    Weaver uprising in 1844

    Handloom weavers in Upper Silesia led a famous protest against their publishers due to harsh competition from mechanized factories.

  4. 1846

    Hunger crisis of 1846-1847

    A severe potato blight caused a major hunger crisis across Europe, leading to unrest in Prussian markets and bakeries.

  5. 1847

    First Railway Line Opens

    Denmark's first railway line opened on June 26, 1847, connecting Copenhagen and Roskilde.

  6. 1849

    1849 Constitution ends absolute monarchy

    The 1849 Constitution abolished absolute monarchy, fundamentally changing the legal and political status of all Danish inhabitants.

Family

Parents

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.