SOLINGEN.
435
Housing and Rents.
The appearance of the houses in Solingen has already been described.
There is no distinct working-class district : in the old houses in the centre of
the town the population is very mixed, whilst in the new streets, and houses
workmen and their families often occupy the upper floors, and even carry on
their work there in many cases, whilst the lower floors may be occupied by
professional or business men, or by shops. On the outskirts of the town the
houses are occupied more entirely by the working class, and largely by homeworkers,
but here in many instances the houses are owned by the occupiers.
The old houses, of the characteristic Berg Country type, are rarely large enough
for more than one or two tamiles, especially when a room (generally on the
ground floor) has to be used as a workshop ; while the maximum number of
families in the new houses, of the kind usually found in modern German towns,
is six.
The normal working-class dwelling consists of three rooms, including the
kitchen, which here is seldom reckoned separately, since it serves also as a livingroom.
Many families, however, inhabit dwellings of only two rooms, but if
more than three are taken, one at least is let to lodgers. It was found that of
578 or 64’2 per cent, out of 900 working-class dwellings, the rents of which
were collected for the purpose of this report, consisted of three rooms, and 248
or 27'3 per cent, of two rooms. The tenants have to supply their own stoves,
and the number of rooms in which they use them depends upon their inclination
and means ; usually stoves can be placed in all rooms except the attics. In the
old houses, alike in the centre of the town and on the outskirts, the sanitary
conditions are not very satisfactory ; the rooms are often low and small, and the
sanitary equipment generally inadequate ; and it is doubtful if in the centre any
real improvement is possible without extensive re-building, which, indeed, is
gradually taking place. In the new streets the conditions are naturally much
better ; the rooms are larger and loftier, and the sanitary arrangements as a
rule more satisfactory. Basement dwellings are virtually non-existent.
Except in the case of the very poor and in some of the worst of the old
houses, there appears to be a general effort at cleanliness, which is helped by the
customary absence of carpets. The furniture is commonly very simple ; only
in the case of the most prosperous workmen is the attempt made to set apart
one of the rooms as a “ parlour.” The main defect seems to be the insufficient
sleeping accommodation ; and while this may be due in some instances to high
rents, the cause in other cases would appear to be actual indifference on the
subject.
The ground plan of the old half-timber houses is very simple. Onefamily
houses may be entered direct from the street or through a corridor or
fore-place, and the two rooms on the ground floor are intercommunicable.
Two-family houses are of two types. In one case a wide corridor gives entrance
to a combined kitchen and living-room at the front, and another at the
back, and a common staircase on the opposite side of the corridor leads to the
bedrooms, one for each family. A variant on this arrangement is for the corridor
to run through the house from front to back, with an apartment of two rooms
on each side, bedrooms being reached as before by a common staircase.
The best type of entirely working-class houses within the town are those
built by the Savings and Building Society. The society does not aim at lower
rents than those customary in the town, but seeks to provide better accommodation.
The houses which it builds are of three stories (including the ground
floor) with a large cellar in which each tenant has a separate part, and an
extensive attic used as a drying room.
On the outskirts of the town the scattered positions of the houses and the
possession of gardens make the conditions much better than in the centre,
though inferior houses are not lacking. Two-family houses are common. With
a view to the improvement of housing conditions the town has introduced a
system of inspection, and in the year 1906, 2,313 of the 11,199 dwellings in the
town were Visited.
Rents are as a rule paid monthly, and only in few cases quarterly, the
customary calculation being per room and year.
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