Marianne Fürstin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn

Marianne, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, was a German noblewoman, socialite, a professional photographer, member of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and the mother of Alexander, 7th Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.

Infant swaddling for physical development

To help them grow straight, infants in the Kirchberg region were placed in a swaddling cushion for several months, which prevented them from moving or kicking.

Strict social dress codes in Vienna

Prosperous women in Vienna followed strict rules for social success, requiring different outfits for specific daily activities like morning errands, afternoon tea, or exhibition openings.

Traditional wedding dance and procession music

The Zillertaler Tramplan was a traditional wedding dance performed as the wedding party walked from the church to the inn. It was a regional dance piece that later became a musical signature of tourism in the Ziller Valley.

Instruments and foot-tapping dance customs

In the Ziller Valley, traditional wedding music was performed by ensembles consisting of two fiddles, a diatonic accordion, a Tyrolean folk harp, and a string bass. Dancers at these events frequently tapped their toes in time with the music, using specific patterns for two-four and three-four time signatures.

State control of Austrian railways in 1914

By 1914, the Imperial-Royal State Railways held a near monopoly, with 82 percent of the 22,981 kilometers of railway tracks in Austria being state-owned.

Transport in 1925: Horses and Electric Trams

Around 1925, most of the population in rural Austria relied on horse-drawn carriages for transport, while city dwellers in Vienna used a modern network of electric trams and buses. Private automobiles were rare, reserved only for the very wealthy.

Childhood and education in Tyrol

Children in rural Tyrol often faced heavy agricultural labor, which frequently hindered their school attendance. Access to further education was strictly dependent on the family's financial situation.

Housing for the poor in Vienna

In 1909, around 66,000 people in Vienna were bed-renters who did not have their own home and paid to use a bed for only a few hours. Many tenement buildings lacked running water, toilets, and electricity, requiring residents to collect water from a corridor tap called a Bassena.

War bread and synthetic food substitutes

When bread grain became scarce during the war, bakers used inferior surrogates, causing the resulting "war bread" to crumble into thousands of crumbs when cut. Housewives also increasingly relied on synthetic food substitutes like margarine and beet sugar to supplement limited supplies.

Wartime food queues and charity soup meals

During World War I, famine forced city dwellers to wait in queues for hours, sometimes starting at night, for small and often unpalatable food rations. A single daily meal at charity kitchens might consist of a thin vegetable soup of turnips, carrots, and beets, costing 30 heller.

Food prices in 1925 Vienna

In 1925, a kilogram of bread in Vienna cost 65.2 Groschen, while a kilogram of beef cost 329.4 Groschen.

Cost of soup ingredients in 1910

In 1910, a Maggi beef bouillon cube cost 5 hellers, whereas a full kilogram of soup meat was significantly more expensive at 1 crown and 50 hellers.

Hardships of domestic service work

Domestic servants often worked from early morning until late at night, and until 1911, masters had the legal right to physically punish their staff. Even after laws were passed in 1920 to limit hours to 13 per day, many servants continued to work longer shifts and could not lock their own rooms.

Low wages and long hours

A worker in wool weaving could earn 34 Heller for finishing a shoulder collar, which took a significant amount of time, or roughly 51 Heller per day if highly skilled. Cigarette paper production workers could earn 10 to 12 Kronen for a long shift starting at 5 a.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m.