ESSEN.
239
Housing and Rents.
It will be convenient to consider first the general conditions of housing in
Essen ; secondly, the character of the ordinary dwellings ; and finally the
nature and extent of housing by employers.
The following Table, supplied by the Director of the Municipal Statistical
Office, shows the number of dwellings and the nature of the accommodation
offered by them in 1900, and again in 1905, after the last extension of the
municipal boundaries. It must be remembered that in Essen—as, indeed, in
the whole of the Rhineland—the term “ heatable room,” common to other parts
of Prussia, has no special meaning ; for the tenants must supply the stoves, and
as a rule they can make as many rooms “heatable” as they choose ; and secondly,
that the kitchen is always included in the number of rooms, and is practically
always the living room.
Dwellings with
1900.
One room
Two rooms
Three rooms
Four rooms
Five rooms
Six rooms
Seven rooms
Eight rooms
Nine or more
rooms
Total
1.303
14,331
10,963
4,425
2,324
1,455
753
501
1,081
37,146
Percentage.
35
38 6
29-6
11-9
63
39
20
13
2-9
100-0
1905.
1,401
17,286
14,690
6,351
3,525
2,262
1,139
760
1,482
48,896
Percentage.
2- 9
354
300
13-0
7-2
4-6
23
1-6
3- 0
100-0
It appears from this that in 1905, 65'4 per cent., or very nearly two-thirds,
of all the dwellings in Essen were of two or three rooms, and an additional
13 per cent, were of four rooms.
In one respect Essen takes high rank among the great German towns ; it
has few basement dwellings. In 1900, in the old town of Essen and Altendorf,
which were amalgamated in that year, there were basement dwellings in only
44 houses, or 0 46 per cent, of the total number ; and this satisfactory state of
affairs is undoubtedly due in large measure to the enforcement during the last
twenty years of bye-laws which impose restrictions amounting practically to a
prohibition of such dwellings. Another merit of Essen is the small number
of courtyard houses (“ Hof hä user ”), i.e., houses not fronting on to the street,
but lying behind street-houses, from which they are separated by a small courtyard.
In 1900 in the area already mentioned only 4 7 per cent, of the houses
were of this type, and they contained an even smaller proportion (3*4 per cent.)
of the total number of dwellings.
On the other hand, attics are of great importance, and nearly three-quarters
of the houses possess them. The attics are of two kinds, “ Mansarden,” which
are intended for dwellings, and “ Speicherzimmer,” or lofts, which are only
roughly finished off, and are not intended (at least primarily) as living rooms.
The general custom at Essen is for an attic of some kind (or possibly two) to
be let with each tenement, according to the number available and the wishes of
the tenant ; they are used for all kinds of purposes, but especially as bedrooms
for grown-up children or for lodgers. But the growing demand for houseroom
has caused the attics, even when very ill-equipped for the purpose, to be let as
complete and separate dwellings.
As regards house-ownership it may be noted that in 1900, 8"62 per cent,
of the total families occupied their own houses. The houses were divided
between 3,870 owners, of whom 3,563 were private persons. At the head of
the list was the Krupp firm, with 1,121 houses, containing 4,016 dwellings and
22,282 inhabitants ; the next was a builder with 114 houses. At the bottom of
the list came 734 owners with two houses each and 2,426 owners with only one
house apiece. The owners usually let the dwellings separately, but sometimes
the whole house is let to a tenant, who then sub-lets such rooms as he does not
himself need ; and usually the rooms are so built that almost any combinations
can be made for letting purposes.
