Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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36 BERLIN. MW. Berlin has a large and well-equipped public abattoir, through which the bulk of its fresh meat supply passes. There is a special abattoir for horses, however, and this is under police control. The municipal cattle market serves as a dis tributing centre for a large area of Prussia. Most of the meat consumed in Berlin comes from the East of Prussia, Mecklenburg, Pomerania and Schleswig- Holstein, but sheep come from Bavaria and Hesse as well, formerly there were large imports of live cattle for the Berlin market, but those from the West have been stopped by the stricter veterinary measures now enforced. A few sheep come from Austria, but no pigs now come from abroad. During recent years there has been a steady diminution in the consumption of fresh meat per head. The rate has been estimated as follows by the Berlin Statistical Office, the area of calculation being the city and a radius of about 5 miles :— Consumption of Fresh Meat in Berlin. ¡ 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 Year. Consumption per head. lb. 165- 70 167*16 168-89 166- 87 165-11 168-61 178-20 176-75 16520 16621 No estimate has been attempted since 1903, because the available data of calculation are no longer sufficiently exact. In 1905 4'9 percent, less meat was killed at the municipal abattoir as compared with 1904, though the popu lation had increased by 2 5 per cent., and owing to the higher prices it is unlikely that the present consumption per head is greater than that of 1903. Returns of weekly expenditure were obtained from 413 families, com prising 1,863 persons. These showed an average meat consumption per head of 29h ounces, or at the rate of 96 lb. a year. Of this 291 per cent, was pork and bacon, 29 per cent, sausage, and 26 per cent. beef. Mutton amounted to 8 per cent., an unusually large proportion. The following return of animals slaughtered in the abattoirs is instructive as showing the kinds of meat of which the consumption is specially liable to fluctuation :— Cattle Calves Sheep Pigs ... Horses* 1905. 167,279 166,150 464,364 964,612 13,752 1904. 162,398 166,996 439,163 1,005,027 11,192 1903. 153,426 156,984 413.388 895,206 11,218 1902. 162,167 156,017 445,972 761,097 12,616 1901. 190,390 163,342 461,356 797,165 11,693 * Including 862 killed at Rixdorf in 1905 and 416 in 1904 ; in 1901-3 there were no horses slaughtered at Rixdorf. Pork is the meat most favoured by the working classes, and even a slight increase in price seriously affects the sales. Thus, the number of pigs slaughtered in 1905 was 40,415, or 4 per cent, less than in 1904 ; but the actual decrease of meat was still greater, for the average weight of the animals sank from 185-9 lb. in 1904 to 172*7 lb. in 1905, a further decrease of 7T per cent. Nor was the deficiency covered by the larger slaughter of cattle and sheep, for these only increased by 4,923,182 lb., against a deficiency in pork of 20,246,028 lb. Thus in 1905 the consumption of pork was 10 lb. per head less than in 1904. After pork, the working classes consume the cheaper qualities and cuts of beef by preference ; mutton is not popular, and veal is too dear. Taking the averages of all the mean retail prices of meat at

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