Every day life in Baden in 1500-1850

1stackgen4

I am wondering what the daily lives of my ancestors were like. They lived for centuries in and around the village of Birndorf in the Waldshut area, which is near the Rhine River. On Meyersgaz, the terrain appears to be hilly. I assume they were farmers, although a familienbuch shows the family living at house #35 in the 1700s, whatever that meant. The type of info I am hoping for is suggested by some of the questions below:

I assume travel was accomplished by walking, rather than by horse?

If they were farmers, how big would their farm be? Did they have to be wealthy to own an ox to till the soil? What crops would they likely raise in that area?

If they weren't farmers, what occupations could they have?

How would they be accepted into a guild?

Thank you for any information you can give me, or the names of any texts or websites that might delineate life for everyday people in those centuries.

Elizabeth

StH31

@1stackgen4

1500 to 1850 is a very long time to cover and spans about 16 generations of people at a minimum and countless inventions and technological etc advancements. I'd suggest reading a history book first to get a feeling for what kind of lives people led during those time in Europe.

You might also want to start by browsing Wikipedia or similiar sites for general info and working your way down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire

I assume travel was accomplished by walking, rather than by horse?

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/transportation-and-communication

If they were farmers, how big would their farm be? Did they have to be wealthy to own an ox to till the soil? What crops would they likely raise in that area?

https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/Landlords-and-peasants

If they weren't farmers, what occupations could they have? & How would they be accepted into a guild?

https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/guild-trade-association

https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/history-of-work-organization-648000/The-craft-guilds

sylviaelchinger1

A really good book to describe German life is called Our Daily Bread by Teeva Sheer. Another one is The Story of Everyday German Peasant Life: 100 BCE to 1850 by David Koehler.