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Count Josef Hubert, 9th Count of Neipperg

1918–2020

Born
22 Jul 1918, Schwaigern
Country of birth
Germany
Died
12 Sep 2020, Schwaigern
facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth22 Jul 1918, SchwaigernProbable1 source
  • Death12 Sep 2020, SchwaigernProbable1 source
  • UnionMarie Ledebur-WichelnConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Schwaigern

    Birth, Schwaigern

  2. Child born: Count Karl Eugen, 10th Count of Neipperg

    Birth

  3. Died · Schwaigern

    Death, Schwaigern

What was it like?

The world around Schwaigern, 1918: 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.

Count was born around the same time as Heinrich Böll, Charles Bukowski, and Federico Fellini.

Born around the same time

  • Heinrich Böll

    1917 · German writer (1917–1985)

  • Charles Bukowski

    1920 · German-American writer (1920–1994)

  • Federico Fellini

    1920 · Italian filmmaker (1920–1993)

  • Édith Piaf

    1915 · French singer (1915–1963)

  • Frank Sinatra

    1915 · American singer and actor (1915–1998)

  • Stanley Matthews

    1915 · English association football player (1915-2000)

Fashion

Everyday and Festive Rural Dress

While festive rural attire often included traditional pieces like buckled shoes, white stockings, and specific vests, ordinary people's everyday clothes were made of durable fabrics meant to be easily washed. Poorer children in particular sometimes had to go without shoes entirely.

Popular Boys' Clothing Styles

The sailor suit was the single most popular outfit for boys during this period, reflecting the Imperial German Navy's expansion. Younger boys also typically wore knickerbockers, which are trousers gathered just below the knee, often paired with short jackets.

Music

Itinerant German street bands

Itinerant German bands, often consisting of brass and woodwind players, traveled globally and performed in streets or at kur (spa) resorts for a weekly wage.

Patriotic singing in schools

Patriotic songs were a central part of school life, with children learning martial songs and hymns like Heil dir im Siegerkranz to promote loyalty to the Kaiser and the nation.

Getting around

Example travel times and costs in 1902

In 1902, a journey of 157 kilometers from Bremen to Norden took 4 1/4 hours by express train at a cost of 12.70 Marks for first class, while a slower passenger train took 5 1/4 hours. These scheduled services offered passengers predictable and relatively affordable options for traveling between regional towns.

Railways dominated long-distance travel by 1914

By 1914, Germany had one of the world's densest railway networks, which by then far outperformed road transport in both speed and cost for long-distance travel. Express trains reached speeds of 90 to 100 kilometers per hour, allowing travel from Berlin to Munich in a significantly reduced time compared to previous eras.

Daily life

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.

Around 1926–1931

Manual Housework and Modern Kitchens

Working-class households often lacked running warm water, requiring labor-intensive dishwashing using two basins, soda instead of soap, and drying by hand. In contrast, revolutionary designs like the Frankfurt kitchen introduced gas or electric stoves and hot water heaters to modernize and rationalize housework.

Food
Around 1919–1924

Survival diets and rural sourcing

During times of severe inflation and food shortages, families often relied on potatoes and legumes, as meat, eggs, and butter became luxury items that disappeared from many tables. Many city dwellers engaged in so-called hamster trips to the countryside to obtain food directly from farmers when supplies in shops were scarce.

Daily Diet and Food Adulteration

Working-class families often spent 50% to 80% of their income on food, relying heavily on cheap staples like potatoes, bread, and cabbage while meat remained a rare luxury. To make expensive items last longer, food was sometimes adulterated; for example, flour was mixed with gypsum and milk was diluted with water.

Prices and wages
Around 1923–1923

Daily wages during hyperinflation

During the hyperinflation of 1923, money lost value so quickly that workers were paid daily instead of weekly and had to spend their wages immediately. Some workers had to carry their pay home in baskets or wheelbarrows.

Around 1900–1912

Rising cost of living inflation

Between 1900 and 1912, the cost of living in Germany increased by about 30 percent, with dairy and meat prices rising particularly sharply.

Work
Around 1925–1933

Memorable Factory Work Facts

Factory tasks often relied on team piecework where productivity quotas were strictly enforced, and breakfast breaks were sometimes staggered so machines would not stop running. Workers in textile factories sometimes operated a neighboring worker's machine during their own designated break times to ensure continuous output.

Around 1925–1933

The Reality of the Working Day

Although an eight-hour day was a major victory in 1918, it was frequently violated; some workers reported days starting at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m., while others worked until 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. Shifts were common, and factory work often continued on Saturdays, with some employees working every other Saturday.

News and letters

Fast urban delivery via pneumatic tubes

In Berlin, the pneumatic tube system (Rohrpost) transported messages through underground pipes at speeds of 40 to 50 kilometers per hour, promising delivery within one hour of posting.

Around 1925–1929

Rapid newspaper delivery in Berlin

In the 1920s, Berliners were amazed to receive morning newspapers like the Vossische Zeitung just four hours after publication, thanks to rapid transport by cars from airports.

During their lifetime

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 1961

    Berlin Wall separates nation in 1961

    The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 ended free movement from East Germany and created a death strip that separated families for decades.

  5. 1992

    Record asylum applications in 1992

    In 1992, the number of asylum seekers in the Federal Republic reached a record high of over 438,000, following the collapse of the Eastern bloc.

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.