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Maria Anna Plochl

1782–1821

Born
15 May 1782, Bad Aussee
Country of birth
Austria
Died
21 Jan 1821, Bad Aussee
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth15 May 1782, Bad AusseeProbable1 source
  • Death21 Jan 1821, Bad AusseeProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Bad Aussee

    Birth, Bad Aussee

  2. Child born: Anna Plochl

    Birth, Bad Aussee

  3. Died · Bad Aussee

    Death, Bad Aussee

What was it like?

The world around Bad Aussee, 1782: 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.

Maria was born the same year as Niccolò Paganini, Daniel François Esprit Auber, and John Field.

Born the same year

  • Niccolò Paganini

    Italian violinist and composer (1782–1840)

  • Daniel François Esprit Auber

    French composer (1782-1871)

  • John Field

    Irish pianist, composer, and teacher

  • Friedrich Fröbel

    German educator

  • Martin Van Buren

    president of the United States from 1837 to 1841

  • John C. Calhoun

    vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832 (1782–1850)

Fashion

Clothing as Annual Servant Wages

Servants often received clothes as part of their annual wages, but these garments were made of less durable fabrics and inferior thread, causing them to wear out quickly within a year.

Daily Versus Feast Day Clothing

For daily chores, workers wore simple garments like rough linen blouses, while on feast days they wore finer linen, often distinguished by the quality of the material.

Music

Church bells and daily rhythm

Religious music and church bells strictly structured daily life, with the ringing of bells signaling the start of the workday in the morning and its end with the evening Angelus. Religiously-themed customs, pilgrimages, and festivals remained central to the experiences of ordinary people throughout their lives.

Regional preferences for dance instruments

Towards the end of the 18th century, different instruments became favored for dance music depending on the setting, with harps and violins common in urban taverns, while zithers and hammered dulcimers were more typical in rural alpine regions.

Getting around

Danube boat travel time

The Danube was a vital transport route, where the weekly 'Ordinari' boat from Regensburg to Vienna took at least one week to complete the 450-kilometer journey.

Mail coach travel discomfort

Travel by mail coach was uncomfortable, with passengers complaining of seats as hard as stone, and typically involved covering only about 37 kilometers per day.

Daily life

Compulsory schooling for children began in 1774

In 1774, Empress Maria Theresa made elementary education compulsory for children aged six to twelve, though many still learned at home. Schools were required to be separate from the teacher's living quarters to prevent domestic disturbances.

Lighting costs were a major household expense

Families relied on candles or oil lamps for light, with expensive beeswax candles providing a cleaner flame than cheaper, smoky tallow versions made from animal fat. Small lighting costs were so significant that they led to the common idiom that a task might not be worth the candle.

Food

Refreshing drinks for the poor

In the 1780s, poor women in Vienna who could not afford wine drank water mixed with vinegar to stay refreshed during hot summers.

Potatoes become a staple food

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the potato became a vital staple food for lower social classes in the Habsburg monarchy because it was cheap, easy to grow, and yielded more than cereals.

Prices and wages
Around 1787–1787

Costs of everyday items in 1787

In 1787, a pair of winter shoes cost 33 kreuzer, while a Zinn (pewter) spoon was 5 kreuzer.

Around 1787–1787

Price of livestock in 1787

In 1787, a cow cost 16 gulden and 20 kreuzer, and one gulden was equivalent to 60 kreuzer.

Work

Common Jobs and Combined Occupations

Common jobs included weaving, day-laboring on farms, and specialized manual trades like bricklaying, with many people juggling multiple roles such as blacksmith and trader.

Daily Routine and Four Meals

Agricultural workers in summer often worked from 4 a.m. until 8 p.m. and were provided four meals daily, including options like milk-based porridge or fried pastries.

News and letters

Daily travel distances for messengers and coaches

Messengers on foot could walk between 25 and 40 kilometers a day, while mail coaches were limited to about 37 kilometers daily because of poor road conditions and the need to adjust wagon axles. Specialized runners were faster and often covered more than 60 kilometers per day.

Legs of the community carried news orally

Most ordinary people relied on itinerant workers, pedlars, students, and journeymen—often called the legs of the community—to carry messages by word of mouth or as trusted travelers. This oral communication was essential since only a very small part of the population could read or write.

During their lifetime

  1. 1784

    Centralized Hospital Opened in 1784

    The Allgemeines Krankenhaus opened in Vienna in 1784 to centralize medical care and provide free treatment for the poor.

  2. 1785

    Certified Medical Staff Decree of 1785

    In 1785, the Emperor decreed that every community must have a state-certified midwife and doctor to prevent epidemics.

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.