Fun fact because I’ve lived in that region for a while: Count Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn ist still alive and inherited the family’s castle, which he successfully renovated. It had been a ruin after WW2. He also has a Harvard Business degree. The castle is an event location now and one of very few castles in Germany that are still owned by the original aristocratic family. There is also a butterfly house next to the castles.

There was a student in my elementary school class in the early 90s, whose single mother worked as a cleaning lady at the school and supported both of them with that money. They had a small apartment, a car and while she was considered poor, she always had enough clothes, school supplies etc.