106

BREMEN.

Thus,  while  the  rents  of  £10  and  under  formed  34*6  per  cent,  of  the  whole
in  Bremen  and  41’8  per  cent,  in  Vegesack,  they  only  formed  16*4  per  cent,  of
the  whole  in  Bremerhaven  ;  and  while  the  rents  of  from  £10  to  £20  were
39*0  per  cent,  of  the  whole  in  Bremen  and  27*3  per  cent,  in  Vegesack,  they
were  45*9  per  cent,  of  the  whole  in  Bremerhaven.  The  principal  reason  for
the  higher  rents  in  the  comparatively  small  town  of  Bremerhaven,  whose
population  in  1905  was  22,920,  is  to  be  found  in  the  high  cost  of  land  caused
by  the  limited  area  of  this  portion  of  the  State  of  Bremen.  Not  only  is
Bremerhaven  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  river  Weser  and  on  the  north  by  the
river  Geeste,  but  to  the  east  and  south  it  is  hemmed  in  by  Prussian  territory,  so
that  expansion  is  virtually  impossible.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conditions
which  circumscribe  the  growth  of  Bremerhaven  do  not  apply  to  Geestemünde
nor  yet  to  Lehe,  which  lies  also  in  Prussia  north  of  the  Geeste.  Hence  it
comes  about  that  Bremerhaven  workpeople  live  largely  in  Prussian  territory.

Printed  rent  contracts  are  usual,  even  in  the  case  of  small  dwellings,  and
tenancy  is  either  monthly,  quarterly,  or  half-yearly,  rent  being  paid  in  advance
only  in  the  case  of  monthly  tenants.
A  considerable  percentage  of  the  working-class  households  of  Bremen
increase  their  incomes  by  letting  a  bedroom  or  the  share  of  a  room  to  lodgers,
and  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  unmarried  men  in  the  shipbuilding  yards
and  engineering  works  enables  this  to  be  readily  done.  The  extent  to  which
the  taking  of  lodgers  is  conditioned  by  monetary  considerations  is  illustrated  by
the  fact  that  while  the  proportion  of  Bremen  households  with  lodgers  or  foster
children  was  in  1900  24T  per  cent,  in  the  town  generally,  in  three  districts
largely  inhabited  by  the  working  classes  and  persons  of  small  means  the  percentage ­
  was  45 - 0.  It  has  been  found  that  lodgers  are  taken  most  in  dwellings
with  a  rent  of  from  4s.  to  5s.  9cl.  per  week—in  other  words  in  four-room  dwellings
—also  that  families  with  few  children  take  lodgers  far  more  rarely  than  those
with  many.  The  usual  charge  for  lodging  alone  is  from  Is.  Gd.  to  2s.  per  week,
for  lodging  with  coffee  and  roll  for  breakfast  from  2s.  to  2s.  Gd.,  and  for  lodging
and  full  board  10s.  per  week.  There  are  no  special  lodging-house  regulations,
but  the  police  have  power  to  step  in  where  unhygienic  conditions  are  known  to
•exist  and  to  require  their  abatement.
The  rent  paid  by  the  Bremen  working  classes  is  estimated  to  form  about
20  per  cent,  of  the  income  of  the  head  of  the  family,  or  15  per  cent,  of  the  total
family  income.  This  estimate  is  based  on  an  investigation  into  the  housing
conditions  and  the  earnings  of  889  families  made  by  a  special  Municipal
Housing  Commission  in  1904.  A  classification  of  these  889  returns  gave  the
following  result  :—

Number  of  cases.

Ratio  of  rent  to  Income.

Income  Groups.

£20  and  under
Over  £20  up  to  £25

£25
£30
£35
£40
£45
£50
£60
£75
£100

£30
£35
£40
£45
£50
£60
£75
£100

Total  ...

(«)  Counting
income  of  head
of  family  only.

25
17
15
14
37
44
67
89
33
6
2

349

(&)  Counting
entire  family
income,
including  sub
sidiary  earnings.

40
23
38
29
59
90
123
198
150
86
53

(a)  Counting
income  of  head
of  family  only.

889

58-4
304
21-7
215
20-4
208
19-6
18-2
17-0
12-6
10-6

20  7

(&)  Counting
entire  family
income,
including  subsidiary ­
  earnings.

35-6
29-4
23-8
235
18-  9
19-  5
183
15-8
142
12-2
9-4

15-4