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Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Gräfin Amalia Magdalena

1693–1693

Born
16 Jun 1693, Rudolstadt
Country of birth
Germany
Died
18 Jun 1693, Rudolstadt
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 · Rudolstadt

    Birth, Rudolstadt

  2. Died · Rudolstadt

    Death, Rudolstadt

What was it like?

The world around Rudolstadt, 1693: 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.

The Winkelmann hat for men featured an integrated fabric bag designed to carry items like a prayer book, bread, and a hip flask.

Known for

In their life

  • infant death
Fashion

Men's multi-functional hat design

The Winkelmann hat for men featured an integrated fabric bag designed to carry items like a prayer book, bread, and a hip flask.

The Tiphoike hooded cloak

The Tiphoike was a distinctive black hooded cloak worn over the head that functioned as a status symbol, with length and adornment varying between social classes.

Music

Church and celebrations used town pipers

In early modern German towns, town pipers’ wind instruments were used at church services and also for special occasions such as weddings or house concerts.

Popular wedding dance needed the fiddle

In Weseke, a record from 1662 calls a local musician “Fidicen” (violinist) whose fiddle provided the energy for festivities, and wedding celebrations were incomplete without dancing.

Getting around
Around 1696–1699

Water Transport on the Danube

Travel by water was vital, with cargo boats like the Ordinari sailing weekly from Regensburg to Vienna, a journey of 450 kilometers that took at least a week. While downstream travel was faster, upstream journeys were labor-intensive, often requiring horses to tow the boats.

Around 1700–1724

River Travel by Ordinari Boats

Water transport was often more cost-effective; for example, the Ordinari boat from Regensburg to Vienna took at least a week to cover about 450 kilometers. Passengers often spent their nights on land during these boat journeys.

Daily life

Difficult and contaminated water access

Getting drinkable water was labor-intensive, often involving fetching it from ditches or rivers that were also used for sewage disposal. Nearby wells were frequently contaminated by sewage as well.

Poor lighting in winter homes

During the winter, homes were lit by poor-quality light from resin torches, tallow candles, or oil lamps with open flames.

Food

Alcoholic beverages replaced water for safety

People rarely drank water due to contamination risks, relying instead on wine or beer, which were considered safer because of the fermentation process. Milk was almost exclusively for small children, as most of it was processed into butter and cheese for storage.

Porridge was the primary warm meal

Porridge made from oats or millet was the most important warm meal, often prepared in large batches and reheated, which gave it a tough, semi-solid consistency. People typically ate directly from a common bowl at the center of the table using their hands or a wooden spoon.

Prices and wages
Around 1700–1700

Daily wages of laborers around 1700

Around 1700, a carpenter earned 8 groschen per day, while a day-laborer earned 7 groschen per day.

Around 1700–1700

Food and luxury prices around 1700

In the early 18th century, a pound of beef cost about 1.5 groschen, and a bottle of champagne was 1 thaler and 3 groschen.

Work

Common Jobs in Rural Villages

Most common occupations were in agriculture, including fullholders, smallholders, and landless laborers like cottars (Seldner) and day laborers who often combined farming with small-scale craft or wage work. Female labor was essential and included tasks like spinning, sewing, agricultural labor, and working as live-in maidservants.

Memorable Facts: Wages and Quotas

Female servants often earned very low wages, with a 1631 list showing they received only about 3.8 Gulden annually, which was 42 percent of the average male servant's wage. Additionally, compulsory labor duties often included specific quotas, such as women being required to spin 6 pounds of flax per year.

News and letters

Cost of sending a letter in 1693

In 1693, sending a standard letter from Güstrow to Hamburg cost 4 Schilling (ßl.).

Chaotic cargo on post wagons

Post wagons often carried a chaotic mix of goods, including barrels, crates, and even unpackaged game like deer or pigs.

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.