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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460 STUTTGART. Stuttgart is not only the capital of Wurtemberg, it is the only large town in that Kingdom. Its population in December, 1905, was 249,286, equal to the combined populations of any nine other Wurtemberg towns. The original town, the nucleus of the modern municipality, has increased slowly, for Stuttgart, like Wurtemberg generally, took but a languid interest in the industrial developments of recent years until a comparatively short time ago, though now the past apathy has been thrown off. The more rapid growth in the last ten years has been specially due to the absorption of one suburb after another, until the municipal area now extends to 14,500 acres, much of it, however, park, vineyard, and forest. The growth of population since 1875 has been as follows :— Year. 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 107,278 117,303 125,901 139,817 158,321 176,699 249,286 Increase. 10,030 8,598 13,916 18,504 18,378 72,587 Increase per cent. 9-3 73 11-1 132 11-6 41-0 Of the large increase which fell to the quinquennium 1900-1905 nearly half was due to the incorporation of outlying townships. The town is built around and upon the vine-clad slopes which confine the narrow valley of the Nesenbach, and here form a large amphitheatre. This picturesque position, however, has placed obstacles in the way of the town’s growth. As the mouth of the valley is blocked by a royal park, only the hillsides remained for the builder, and access, other than by winding roads, from the lower to the higher levels is in many places facilitated by long flights of stone steps. Though Stuttgart is essentially a modern town structurally, relics of past ages survive in the narrow little streets which are crowded together in the centre, and which represent the “ Altstadt ” or “Old Town.” Here are found many picturesque houses with high gables and heavy timber work, also remains of ancient monastic buildings—like the Klosterhof—which now are parcelled off into tenement dwellings or, if not so adaptable, are used as ware houses and stables. The modern houses are for the most part built of brick faced with stucco, or have a base of massive stonework with brick and stucco above, and red tiles are the prevailing roofing material. While the old houses are generally low structures of two or three stories, the newer ones have four stories with an attic story in addition. In the central district the ground floor is usually given up to trade or industry, and in the by-streets artisans and small craftsmen often work below and live above. The rise of rents and the needs of commerce have, however, gradually pushed the working classes from the heart of the town outwards towards the suburbs, and only those remain behind whose occupation requires it or who are content to inhabit the dilapidated dwellings of the “ Altstadt.” Stuttgart has a considerable variety of industry, yet it does not yet rank as a factory town. Its largest industrial works are situated in the outskirts, and in the villages farther away still which have been incorporated during the past twenty years. Wurtemberg, however, is not an industrial country to the

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