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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MÜLHAUSEN. 363 Of 6.14 tenements classified according to story 138 or 22*5 per cent, were in the basement, 159 or 25*9 per cent, were in the first story, 148 or 24*1 per cent, were in the second, and 169 or 27'5 per cent, were attic tenements. For seven or eight years rents had been tolerably stationary, but heavy expenditure on sewerage and the asphalting of streets has added to the house owner’s burdens, and he is naturally seeking relief at the expense of his tenants. According to the observations of the House Bureau the average weekly rents of tenements of various size were as follows during the period 1902-3 to 1904-5 : One room with kitchen Two rooms „ Three „ 1902-3. 2s. 6(7. 3s. 3d. 5s. 4d. 1903-4. Is. 10(7. 3s. 3d. 5s. 6d. 1904-5. Is. Id. 3s. 6<7. 5s. M. Lodgers as a rule pay 10s. a week for board and bed. Unmarried day labourers usually take a bed only, for which they pay 5s. a month, joining rooms with others, and buy and even cook their own food. This is the usual mode of life of Italian labourers, of whom there are many at Mülhausen. The province of Alsace-Lorraine has its own system of taxation, and nominally taxation for State purposes falls on smaller incomes than in Prussia. Owing to the system of exemption already referred to, however, only persons with an income of £65 and upwards are liable to State or Municipal income tax at Mülhausen. The local taxes, for town and district, amounted in 1906 to 1 mark 42TO pfennige (a little over Is. 5d.) per mark of State tax. The following Table shows the incidence of these taxes on various groups of income subject to the exemption stated :— Income Group. State Income Tax. Local Taxes. Total. £25 and under ... ^ £25 to £30 inclusive £30 „ £35 £35 „ £40 „ £40 „ £45 £45 „£50 „ £50 „ £65 „ J £65 „ £80 £80 „ £100 „ At present exempted s. d 0 1 I 1 2 2 3 4 4 6 10& 8 6& 3 s. d. 0 81 1 6 1 9 3 0 3 5i 5 1* 6 9 9* 12 1| s. d. 1 2 2 64 5 104 8 9 10 7 16 8 20 8& There is also a tax for ecclesiastical purposes levied only on Protestants for their Church. Retail Prices. , Groceries and other Commodities. There is one large covered market at Mülhausen, and open markets are also held in five squares and other public places, subject to the control of the municipal authorities. The principal market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and while no restriction is placed on the class of goods that may he exposed for sale the chief trade is in farm produce and vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish, though at several of the markets hardware, brushes, textile stuffs and remnants, and the commoner kitchen requisites are sold. Moderate dues are levied for stalls and space. The great bulk of the trade in food stuffs is done in the grocery shops, here called “ Consumgeschäfte,” a term which must not he confused with “ Consumverein,” which is the usual name for the co-operative store in Germany. Coffee is the usual domestic drink, and the quality of bean generally purchased is that at one mark per German pound, equal to IW. per English pound. “ Loaf” or " cube ” is the sugar most used, for there is little demand for granulated ; the price of both kinds in October, 1905, was '¿^d. per lb. The predominant price of bacon was 8d. per lb., but far less cured bacon is used than fresh pork. The cheese universally consumed is " Münster ” (a town of Alsace), a round cheese made in weights of 1 to lb. and sold at from 8|d. to 9\d. per lb. Little Swiss cheese is eaten by the working class, though Mülhausen is onlv half an hour by train from the Swiss frontier and barely three hours from the famous Emmenthal, which gives its name to some of the

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