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Georg von Stockau

1806–1865

Born
6 May 1806, Dresden
Country of birth
Holy Roman Empire, today Germany
Died
12 Apr 1865, Napajedla
facts
8
sources
1
images and files
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Facts and their sources

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A life in time

  1. Born · Dresden

    Birth, Dresden

  2. Event · Member of the enlarged Imperial Diet

    Event

  3. Died · Napajedla

    Death, Napajedla

What was it like?

The world around Dresden, 1806: 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.

Georg was born around the same time as Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig Feuerbach, and George Sand.

Known for

Titles held

  • Member of the enlarged Imperial Diet1860
Born around the same time

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    1809 · German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of Jewish descent (1809-1847)

  • Ludwig Feuerbach

    1804 · German philosopher and anthropologist (1804–1872)

  • George Sand

    1804 · French novelist and memoirist (1804–1876)

  • Hector Berlioz

    1803 · French composer and conductor (1803–1869)

  • Michael Glinka

    1804 · Russian composer (1804–1857)

  • Abraham Lincoln

    1809 · president of the United States from 1861 to 1865 (1809-1865)

Fashion

Industrious Spinning in Rural Winter Life

Young women in rural Prussia were often famous for their industriousness, frequently spinning two or even three pieces of yarn daily after completing their domestic chores and farm work. This spinning took place in communal spinning rooms, which served as the center of winter life.

Limited Resources for Rural Children

Children from poorer families often wore clothes made from their parents' discarded garments and frequently went barefoot over stones and stubble during the summer. In some villages, a single umbrella was considered a rare luxury owned by the entire community.

Music

Singing at church and parish gatherings

For many people in the Prussian lands, Sunday church service was a weekly routine, and singing could also happen at church occasions. Beyond worship, people spent leisure time with games like bowling and cards, and with dancing at local fairs and shooting festivals.

Around 1775–1799

Festival courtship and entertainment

During town fairs, young men purchased sweets and confections for their sweethearts, with the lover placing the first piece into the girl's mouth. Young people also frequented local inns to enjoy dancing, singing, and string music.

Getting around

High cost of travel

A short stagecoach trip from Berlin to Magdeburg cost four Taler, which was nearly the entire monthly wage of a village schoolteacher.

Around 1796–1796

Traveling by foot was grueling work

Traveling on foot was common but physically grueling, as illustrated by the writer Jean Paul who walked from Hof to Bayreuth in winter 1796, arriving exhausted. Those with luggage often had to pay for a porter who served as both a guide and a carrier.

Daily life

Daily lighting and water access challenges

Lighting was scarce and provided by tallow candles, oil lamps, or pine splinters that were often held in the hearth. Water for daily needs was typically retrieved from village pumps or springs, and chores like fetching water could be time-consuming, requiring one to wait for buckets to fill under a slow stream.

Seasonal schooling and untrained teachers

Compulsory primary schooling existed, but children often only attended school in winter because they were needed for farm work and animal herding the rest of the year. Teachers were often untrained individuals, such as former soldiers or weavers, who were appointed by local churches.

Food

Potatoes as the staple food

Ordinary rural families typically ate three meals a day, relying heavily on potatoes, buckwheat porridge, or milk with bread. Potatoes were so central to the diet that they were often eaten boiled in their jackets, sometimes without salt.

The rise of potato schnapps

Potato-based schnapps became a widespread and essential daily pleasure for the poor, as it was much cheaper to produce than grain-based spirits. Some observers noted that after market days, many farmers returned home in a state of intoxication.

Prices and wages

Marriage requirements and net worth

To obtain permission to marry, a couple often needed to prove a minimum net worth of 100 to 200 guilders.

Around 1775–1799

Regulation of Labor and Wages in Coburg

In the Principality of Coburg, official regulations governed the daily wages for servants, day laborers, and various craftsmen like carpenters, masons, and plasterers.

Work
Around 1809–1809

Typical daily labor activities

A typical work day involved diverse manual tasks including cutting fodder, plowing with oxen, weeding thistles, and hauling potatoes and timber. Work was highly organized, with specific labor assigned to farmhands, day laborers, and women.

Common jobs in rural Prussia

By 1800, free agricultural laborers were the largest group in the rural workforce, while live-in servants (Gesinde) also performed essential domestic and farm duties.

During their lifetime

  1. 1812

    Jews granted citizenship in 1812

    Prussia passed an edict that granted Jews citizenship, ending their status as protected subjects with special taxes.

  2. 1832

    First railroad in the empire opened

    The first railroad in the Austrian Empire opened between Linz and Budweis (today České Budějovice) in 1832.

  3. 1834

    Zollverein customs union founded in 1834

    The Zollverein was founded to eliminate customs duties between German states, fostering economic integration under Prussian leadership.

  4. 1836

    Northern Railway Company founded

    The Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway Company was founded in Vienna in 1836, connecting major regions including Moravia.

  5. 1842

    Freedom of movement laws in 1842

    Prussia introduced new laws enabling greater freedom of movement and settlement for individuals not dependent on public relief.

  6. 1844

    Weaver uprising in 1844

    Handloom weavers in Upper Silesia led a famous protest against their publishers due to harsh competition from mechanized factories.

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.