Station: [2] The Bedroom
M: "Into thy hands I commend my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth."
F: With that in mind: nighty-night!
M: Of course, in earlier times, no good Christian's bedside table would have been without a prayer book.
F: The alarm clock standing next to it was something special. It must have been made during the First World War, between 1914 and 1918.
M: How can you tell?
F: ... by looking at the portraits on there. The gentleman on the left is the German Emperor, Wilhelm the Second, with his distinctive handlebar moustache and wearing a grey uniform. On the right is the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph the First. Showing the pair together was a popular motif during the First World War. The time displayed on the clock is also worth noting: M: Put it this way: barely ten minutes have gone by since the First World War came to an end.
F: But now´, let's take a look at the bed. You've probably already noticed that it's a little on the short side.
M: But that was okay, because in the past, people used to sleep in a semi-upright sitting position. Lying down was considered too corpse-like. Conversely, people believed that if you slept sitting up, you would give Death the slip. Admittedly, it was neither healthy nor comfortable, but as we all know, fear and superstition can make people do the weirdest things.
F: Next, let's take a look inside the big wooden cupboard. There's a German saying that goes:
M: The trousseau is the only tax that can't be high enough. Which only makes sense when you know that the German word for trousseau is Aussteuer, and the word for tax is Steuer. It's a German joke!
F: But given that view of trousseaus, there was, of course, a lot of trickery. Sheets, tablecloths and other textiles that were part of the trousseau were folded so they took up as much space as possible – and placed right at the front of the shelf. The back of the shelf was left bare. That probably gave rise to another saying: Vorne hui, hinten pfui. All show and no substance.
M: The black dress you see here once belonged to Maria Drometer from the village of Unterbettringen. It may have been her wedding dress, though we can't really be sure. However, black wedding dresses were quite common in the past, because black was thought to emphasise the bride's devoutness. In many rural areas, the tradition survived into the 20th century. So it's quite possible that Maria Drometer wore this dress when she got married in 1879. Her intended was a certain Gottlob Mundinger. It must have been a genuine love match: the bride a Roman Catholic, the groom a Protestant. Unheard of in those days!
Fotos: © Jürgen Bahnmayer