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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SOLINGEN. The town of Solingen, situated in the Prussian province of Rhineland, 13 miles east of Düsseldorf and near the river Wupper, has been for centuries the chief home of the German cutlery and fine steel-goods industry ; the history of its sword manufacture goes back, to the time of the .Crusades. During the last 20 years it has developed rapidly. The population, which was 17,778 in 1885, had increased to 50,209 in December, 1905, the increase for the 20 years being equal to 182*4 per cent. The growth during the last four inter-censal periods has been as follows :— Census Year. Population. Increase. Inter-censal Increase per cent. 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 17,778 36,510 40,813 45,260 50,209 18,762 4,303 4,417 4,949 105 5 11-8 10 8 10 9 The large increase between 1885 and 1890 was mainly due to the incorporation of several suburbs in 1888. The area of the township is 5,437 acres. The town had a birth-rate in 1906 of 28'2 per 1,000 of the population and a death-rate of 15*1, giving a natural increase of 13*1 per 1,000. Both birth and death rates have fallen of late years, the former more than the latter, and the natural increase of population was in 1906 3*5 per 1,000 less than in 1901. The following table shows the birth and death rates, and also the rate of infant mortality for a period of six years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 1906 345 32*3 29*6 30*6 30*0 28 2 17*9 15 1 15*5 14 6 16-3 151 170 146 170 148 136 121 Solingen is, however, only the centre of a group of towns engaged in similar industries, with products grouped under the same general head of “ Solingen goods.” These towns are Grafrath (population 8,706) ; Hohscheid (population 15,382) ; Wald (population 22,909) ; and Ohligs (population 23,200). The first three of these are not separated from Solingen in fact ; the municipal boundary in some places runs down the centre of streets which have buildings on both sides ; and it is contended in Solingen that it would be distinctly advantageous, both on financial and other grounds, if these first three towns could be brought under a single administration with Solingen. Of that, however, there seems no immediate prospect. The towns are linked together partly by the railway (Ohligs is an important junction), and partly by a good system of tramways provided by the municipality of Solingen (but leased) and by the authorities of the rural circle (i.e. area for rural local government, from which Solingen is excluded). Solingen itself is an ancient town, and in the centre retains many of its old characteristic features. The streets there are narrow and somewhat hilly (they occupy the site of the old stronghold, which stood on rising ground), and many of the houses are a couple of centuries old. These houses are of the type long peculiar to the Berg Country (i.e., the old duchy of Berg, more or less independent till 1814, when it was definitely included in Prussia, to which the town and

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