242 
ESSEN. 
works. The Altenhof colony is for pensioned workmen and their wives, and 
consists of a number of detached houses for one or two (rarely three) families, 
and two larger houses for widowers and widows. The tenants here pay no rent. 
These two colonies create a very favourable impression, as does the Friedrichs 
hof colony, though it is built on a different plan. Its erection was commenced 
in 1899, and the dearness of the land compelled the adoption of the plan of large 
blocks of houses, each house being for six or in some cases only four families. 
They are grouped round three large courts, laid out partly as gardens and partly 
as playgrounds ; and a very successful attempt has been made to avoid the 
barrack-like impression which such buildings often give. In this colony there 
is a large building containing public baths and wash-houses, and a pleasant 
branch library. 
The other colonies are much less satisfactory. They belong in the main 
to the early period, and represent partly housing experiments of the older 
barrack type, and partly buildings erected hastily to meet temporary needs, 
but continued in use ever since. The only justification in these latter cases for 
continued use must be the great demand for house-room and the low rents. 
Thus in the Nordhof colony the houses are long low buildings of only two 
stories ; the lower parts of the walls are of brick, the upper parts of half-timber 
work, faced with wooden planks. The dwellings on the upper floor are 
approached by an outside wooden staircase at one end of each house, with a 
gallery running the full length. The closets are in groups in separate out 
buildings. The dwellings are not very well maintained, but they are cheap, e.g., 
14s. per month for two rooms. The Schederhof colony consists of a number of 
large blocks, each of three houses ; each house has six dwellings (as a rule) on 
three floors ; there is also for each house a cellar and drying-room. The stair 
cases are rather dark ; the roads are not well kept ; and the general appearance 
is not attractive. Finally there is in the Cronenberg colony, much the largest 
of all, chiefly built in the years 1872-1874, but extended later. The colony 
consists of a number of barrack-houses, three stories high and containing each 
from 30 to 40 dwellings, with one entrance for every six dwellings. There are 
also smaller houses with only 12 dwellings each. There are in all over 1,500 
dwellings in this colony. The streets are planted with trees, there are gardens 
to the houses, and a small park within the colony. 
In each colony there are branches of the Supply Stores, and the number of 
licensed houses is very limited ; in some of the colonies there are none. ' 
The great majority of the Krupp dwellings are of two or three rooms. In 
1901 out of 4,083 dwellings (exclusive of 191 in the “pensioners’ colony” 
of Altenhof) 1,660 had two rooms, 1,869 had three rooms, and 448 had four 
rooms. The yearly rents are stated to be as as follows:—For a “barrack” 
dwelling (two rooms), £3 to £4 10s. ; for two rooms, £4 10s to £5 8s. ; for 
three rooms, £6 to £11 ; for four rooms, £8 10s. to £16. The rent is deducted 
from wages in advance. There is said to be so great a desire to get a Krupp 
dwelling, especially in the new colonies, that workmen put their names down 
on the list and sometimes wait several years for their turn. 
The colliery owners have also erected a large number of dwellings, chiefly 
on the outskirts of Essen. These are usually rows of small houses, and a 
fairly typical case is a colony in West Essen, consisting of a number of blocks 
of four or six houses each. One house visited had a kitchen 9 feet 9 inches by 
11 feet 4l> inches by 8 feet 1^ inches., a bedroom of the same size opening out 
of it, and above two rooms of the same size, but with sloping roofs, together 
with a cellar, a small vestibule, and an outside closet. Water must be brought 
from a neighbouring pump, unless the tenants choose to make the connexion 
themselves. Each house has a small garden. The rent per house was 12s. 6d. 
monthly. 
Municipal taxation is high at Essen. The local addition to the State 
income tax is 200 per cent., and persons below the State exemption (£45) limit 
but with incomes above £33 pay 6s. local tax. The church taxes are 35 per 
cent, on the State income tax for members of the Evangelical Church, and 
40-50 per cent, for the Eornan Catholics according to parish.