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Princess Francesca of Parma

1890–1978

Born
22 Apr 1890, Schwarzau am Steinfeld
Country of birth
Austria
Died
7 Oct 1978, Solesmes
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 · Schwarzau am Steinfeld

    Birth, Schwarzau am Steinfeld

  2. Died · Solesmes

    Death, Solesmes

What was it like?

The world around Schwarzau am Steinfeld, 1890: 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.

Princess was born the same year as Fritz Lang, Boris Pasternak, and Groucho Marx.

Born the same year

  • Fritz Lang

    Austrian filmmaker (1890–1976)

  • Boris Pasternak

    Russian writer (1890–1960)

  • Groucho Marx

    American comedian (1890–1977)

  • Man Ray

    American and French visual artist (1890–1976)

  • Charles de Gaulle

    French general and statesman (1890–1970)

  • Agatha Christie

    English mystery and detective writer (1890–1976)

Fashion

Peasant men's holiday shirt-sleeves

On feast days, peasant men often ate in their white shirt-sleeves, as these were considered an essential part of their holiday attire indoors.

Prankish feast day dessert centerpieces

At peasant feast day dinners, a dessert centerpiece was garnished with bows of bright ribbons, flowers, and deliberately hidden thorns and stinging nettles.

Music

Landler dance in the Wechsel region

The Landler was the dominant dance in the Wechsel region, often accompanied by instruments ranging from violins and clarinets to wind instruments and the Styrian diatonic harmonika. Thousands of Landler melodies were played at celebrations like harvest festivals or in local inns.

Rural music instruments in Voralpen

In rural areas near the Semmering and Wechsel regions, music was often performed using the zither and the hammered dulcimer (Hackbrett). This contrasted with urban areas where violin and harp combinations were more common in taverns.

Getting around

Faster rail connections to Budapest

By 1900, the travel time for a direct train between Vienna and Budapest had been reduced to four and a half hours, down from the approximately six hours required when the line first opened.

Strict police control of early train travel

Initially, passengers traveling by train in Austria had to obtain a police permit the day before their journey, have it stamped at their destination, and return it upon arrival.

Daily life

Shared water taps in Vienna apartment buildings

In urban Vienna, many apartments lacked private water or toilets, requiring residents to fetch water from a shared tap in the corridor called a bassena.

Strict regulations for Austrian schools

Austrian school laws were highly detailed, regulating everything from the size of school desks and classrooms to the pupils' specific attire on examination days.

Food

Affordable ice cream for the masses

In the 1860s, street confectioners began offering portions of ice cream on the Vienna Glacis for an "old Zehnerl," served with an edible cup and spoon made of hard dough.

Beer as food and drink

In Vienna, beer was considered both a food and a drink, and it was so essential that it even appeared on the imperial dinner table.

Prices and wages
Around 1888–1888

Living conditions of brick workers

Brick workers in Vienna often lived in overcrowded huts with up to 70 people to a room, sleeping on straw-covered wooden bunks.

Work

Common jobs and domestic service life

Common jobs included factory work, small-scale trade, and domestic service, with over 91,000 domestic servants in Vienna by 1890 alone. Female domestic servants often started as young as eight to fourteen years old and were frequently required to be on call 24 hours a day.

Harsh working conditions and daily schedules

Working days of 12 to 16 hours were standard, and many workers in brick factories were paid in tokens instead of cash, forcing them to buy supplies at overpriced company canteens. Workers often lived in miserable conditions, sometimes sleeping 50 people to a room on straw mattresses while paying rent for the privilege.

News and letters

Pneumatic Mail and City Delivery Delays

In Vienna, a pneumatic mail system allowed letters to be delivered quickly, with some reaching their destination in just ninety minutes. Conversely, standard city mail faced delays, often taking hours to reach suburban locations.

The Correspondenz-Karte: A Quick Communication Tool

Introduced in 1869, the Correspondenz-Karte allowed people to send short messages across the empire for only 2 Kreuzer. Despite its convenience, city delivery was sometimes slow, with cards mailed in the morning occasionally taking until the next day to reach recipients just a half-hour away.

During their lifetime

  1. 1892

    Gold crown currency introduced in 1892

    In 1892, the gold crown currency was introduced, replacing the old florin system.

  2. 1895

    Industrial workers equaled agricultural workers

    By the mid-1890s, the number of industrial workers in the German Empire grew to match those in agriculture, marking a major demographic shift toward urbanization and factory labor.

  3. 1900

    Paris Metro opens in 1900

    The first Paris metro line opened on July 14, 1900, allowing travel across the city in half an hour for 20 to 25 centimes.

  4. 1914

    Wartime inflation begins, 1914

    Just after war broke out in 1914, the government began using the printing press to fund military costs, causing the money supply to expand by 977 percent by 1918.

  5. 1915

    Ersatz bread introduced, 1915

    In early 1915, the government forced citizens to eat bread made with ersatz ingredients like sawdust because food supplies were severely depleted.

  6. 1919

    Women gain vote, 1919

    The new Republic introduced women's suffrage, with women voting for the first time in the February 1919 national assembly elections.

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.