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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\ HAMBURG. 262 ment of four rooms—“ Best ” room, 11 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 1 inch by 9 feet 3 inches ; living-room, 11 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 5| inches by 9 feet 3 inches ; bedroom, 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches ; kitchen, 12 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches. The corridor had a length of 12 feet and a width of 4 feet ; the rent was £17 per annum, or about 6s. 6d. per week. The houses in Rothenburgsort and the Bill warder district are of the same type, though many of recent erection enjoy accessories which the older houses lack, such as larders, attics and balconies. The balcony is increasingly popular, and builders cannot afford to omit it nowadays if they would attract tenants. Inter-communicable suites of rooms are not usual in working-class dwellings. The corridor or vestibule is universal in all save the old houses, and from this space, which is known variably as the " Vorplatz ” or “ Diele,” each of the rooms is approached. Often the corridor is large enough for the storage of superfluous furniture, clothes, &c., and not uncommonly it is used as a bedroom. The aspect of the homes of the working classes of Hamburg suggests that their occupants set great store by comfort, and do not willingly cripple their accommodation. Neatness, order, and cleanliness are plainly cultivated, and save in the dwellings of the poor, the furniture is ample if simple. One striking characteristic of the workman is his fondness for a " Good ” or “ Best ” room, answering to the English workman’s sitting-room or “ parlour,” though the furnishing is only seldom equal to that of the English “ parlour.” Whatever the size of the tenement, however large the household, one room is almost invariably set aside for special use. The kitchen may have to serve as the living-room, there may be four beds in one bedroom, but the “ Good ” or " Best ” room will not be diverted from its traditional purpose. So, too, a kitchen is regarded as no less indispensable than a “ Best ” room, and few dwellings of modern erection are without. At the Census of 1900 there were only 3,459 dwellings in all Hamburg (equal to 2'23 per cent, of the whole) without separate kitchens ; of these 293 or 8"4 per cent, had nevertheless three rooms, 1,500 or 43’3 per cent, had two rooms, and 1,574 or 45*5 per cent, had but one room. It is noticeable also that the dwellings without kitchens were found particularly in the older districts ; thus while the proportion was not 1 per cent, in the working-class district of Barmbeck, outside the ancient area, and only 0 32 per cent, in Billwärder Ausschlag, it was nearly 5 per cent, in the Altstadt. Hence it is that a working-class household regards three rooms (including the kitchen) as a minimum requirement, while a considerable proportion of the wage-earners are found in tenements of four rooms. At the Census of December, 1900, it was found that of 155,436 dwellings classified, only 1,574 or one per cent, consisted of a single room, 6,002 or 3"9 per cent, consisted of two rooms (the kitchen and non-heatable rooms being here indiscriminately regarded as rooms), 38,467 or 24'7 per cent, consisted of three rooms, and 58,234 or 37'5 per cent, consisted of four rooms. The proportion of three and four room tenements in the case of new buildings is still greater. The following classification of all the new dwellings which have been added during the past seven years shows that the three-room tenements form 31’6 per cent, of the whole and the four-room tenements 37*6 per cent. :— Year. Number of dwellings with rooms (including kitchen) as stated. 6 and more. Total. 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 Totals Percentage 364 466 272 288 103 49 103 1,645 30 5,387 4,095 3,067 2,093 1,228 646 415 4,620 4,078 3,850 3,188 2,226 1,219 948 1,206 996 1,093 1,415 950 525 554 16,931 20,129 6,739 31-6 37 6 12-6 1,243 1,275 1,334 1,421 1,153 871 725 8,022 15 0 12,820 10,910 9,616 8,405 5,660 3,310 2,745 53,466 1000

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