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. 429 surrounding territory belonged) ; they are of one or two stories (including the ground floor), built of “ Fachwerk,” i.e. a wooden frame filled in with brick, and usually (though not always) faced with slates, and have windows with white frames and green shutters. Often, though not invariably, there is a sloping roof with an attic or attics. A few small squares are left, one being used as a public market. The old houses are now interspersed with new buildings of the ordinary German town type, and there is much rebuilding ; but the transformation is very gradual. Until quite recently most of the streets were very narrow, a peculiarity due in part to the fact that the town was formerly a fortress ; indeed, up to the year 1901 the Kölnerstrasse, one of the two main arteries through the town, was only 14 feet wide in the busiest part owing to the obstruction caused by an old building. In some streets the pavements are still only 18 inches wide in parts, and the tramways are laid single line. The widening of the streets has entailed heavy expense, as a result of which municipal action has been crippled in other directions. Outside the centre there is a belt of broad and new streets, which merely reproduce the characteristic features of the ordinary modern German town, and outside that again there is a further belt of territory in which houses of the type already described for the centre of the town are scattered about, either singly or in groups. In this outer belt, however, there is very much unoccupied land, and many of the houses have gardens, or at least a small piece of land near by, attached to them. The sanitation of the town is not satisfactory, especially in the centre, where the narrow and sometimes tortuous streets and the age of the houses oppose considerable obstacles. Nevertheless, Solingen as a whole gives the impression of distinct efforts at cleanliness ; and, though there are some exceptions, the general standard in this respect is high. The undertakings carried on by the town include the gasworks, the water works, electric power and light works, well-equipped baths, savings bank, and abattoir, but while the tramways belong to the town they are, as already stated, worked by a company, which pays 5 per cent, on the cost and a share of the profits, if any. For some years the town maintained a Labour Bureau, but it was attended by little success, and it is now attached to the Industrial Court for the town and rural circle of Solingen. It is principally used by the metal industries and the building trades. Mention may also be made of the Municipal Continuation Schools, attendance at which is compulsory. Pupils at the “ Commercial School ” (Handelsschule) must attend twice a week (afternoons) for three years, and at the “Industrial School” (Gewerbeschule) twice a week (afternoons) for two years ; attendance begins at 14 years of age. Employers must arrange for their apprentices to be absent from work for the necessary number of afternoons a week. Until recent years the town did not attach great value to the public owner ship of building land. In the middle of the nineties, however, a large amount of speculation took place in land, both within the town and on the outskirts, and in the hope of counteracting this the municipality in 1900 purchased an estate, over 100 acres in extent, for £17,500, laid out streets and offered sites for sale at cost price. A number of houses of a better class have been built in the district, but there is still much land available. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The dominant industry of Solingen is the manufacture of cutlery, including under this term swords, table-knives and forks, pen-knives, razors, surgical instruments, scissors, and some other fine steel tools ; there are other metal industries, including the manufacture of machines, but they are of secondary importance. The peculiar organisation of the cutlery industry justifies its description at some length.* * In the following description use has been made of two articles on Solingen industry, one published by Dr. Grunow in 1901, and the other by Dr. Czimatis, Factory Inspector, in 1905, in addition to information obtained from manufacturers and workpeople.

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