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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KÖNIGSHÜTTE-. 2X9 the inhabitants numbered 19,536. Since that year the population has increased more than timefold, as shown by the following Table.— Year. Population. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 19,536 26,032 27,522 32,019 36,501 44,715 57,919 66,012 Increase. 6.496 1,490 4.497 4,482 8,214 13,204 8,123 Increase per cent. 332 5-7 16 3 140 22 5 295 14-0 The nature of its industries and the rapid growth of a population, almost entirely working-class, which has accompanied the expansion of these industries since 1871, have produced conditions which have made it impossible for Königshütte to develop into an attractive town. The scarcity of tree-planted promenades and the general griminess of the brick-faced house fronts are in keeping with the smoke-charged atmosphere. The fact that this present town was formed by federating a group of industrial colonies separated from each other by areas of which a great part had been undermined and so rendered useless for building purposes, has caused Königshütte to assume a straggling form, except in the main thoroughfares (the Kaiserstrasse and Bergfreiheit running south-west, the Beuthenerstrasse running north and the Kronprinzen- strasse running west) ; the town looks deserted during the day-time, and even at night, when the streets look their best in the light of the electric lamps, they seem but little more frequented except by the comparatively small part of the population who are not manual workers. Many of the streets have an unfinished appearance, owing to the roadways being still unpaved. From the number of vacant shops which are to be seen in those streets it would seem as if the builders had over-estimated the probable demand for business premises, for many of these shops are now in process of conversion into ground- floor tenements. Facilities for outdoor recreation are not wanting even in the smoky atmosphere of Königshütte. There is a well-kept public park in the eastern suburb of Redensberg, while the principal iron and steel-making concern in the town has converted a portion of the land adjoining its works, near the centre of the town, into a garden primarily intended for the use of its own employees but to which the public have access ; here concerts are given by an orchestra supported by the same firm. Those among the people of Königshütte, however, who prefer to spend their Sundays and holidays in surroundings free from smoke, take the electric tramway to Kattowitz, where there are extensive parks and woods and few large collieries or iron works. It does not appear, however, that any large proportion of the working-classes of Königshütte are in the habit of going so far afield for their recreation, especially as the cost of the return journey on the tramway is about ninepen ;e. Among the public services sometimes undertaken by municipalities—other than the construction and cleansing of the roads—the waterworks is the only branch of municipal enterprise in Königshütte. Electrical power for the tramways (which are privately owned) and for the lighting of the entire Upper Silesian industrial district is furnished by a company from stations situated at Zaborze and Chorzow. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. At the end of 1905 there were in Königshütte some 9,000 workpeople employed in industrial establishments subject to inspection and distributed as shown below among the various groups oi trades distinguished in the German official statistics :— 2 o 99088

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