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

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

STUTTGART. 467 it is the rule for fines to be applied in the same way. Besides the usual arrange ments for washing, shower baths are provided for the workpeople in one large machine works, and all men desirous of using them are allowed twenty minutes free time once a week during work hours for the purpose. Housing and Rents, The extension and development of Stuttgart have now for some years followed a systematic building plan, which was adopted by the municipal authorities after careful consideration of the town’s economic interests and topographical limitations. By this plan considerable areas of land were set apart as open spaces, certain districts were reserved for dwellings of different classes—villas, artisans’ tenements, &c.—and industry was allotted its special zone. In the laying out of streets straight lines were avoided and moderate curves favoured for the sake of variety, and it was laid down as a general principle that the height of the houses should diminish with the distance from the centre of the town, the usual maximum being 65 feet. In streets less than 52 feet wide, however, four stories are the maximum, souterrains rising more than 8 feet 1^ inches above ground and attic stories with a roof incline of 60 degrees and above being counted as stories. In the principal streets the height of stories must be 9 feet 9 inches from beam to beam, though one story may be lower, but in other streets a height of 8 feet 5 inches is allowed. All living, bed, and work rooms regularly used by human beings must be at least 8 feet 1J inches high from floor to ceiling, and their windows must have a surface equal to one-tenth of the floor area. Attic dwellings are only allowed in buildings not exceeding 65 feet in height, and with the reservation that the elevation of a living room must be at least 8 feet 1 j- inches over half the floor surface, the skylight having an area of 2'7 square feet, while a bedroom must be at least 5 feet 10 inches wide. The by-laws also provide that a certain proportion of a building site behind the house to be erected shall be left open ; its depth varies from one-fifth to one-half of the height of the back wall of the house, as measured from the ground to the eaves gutter. Back buildings are permitted, but if intended for dwellings they may not exceed 89 feet in height, including the roof. Such are the main features of the code of building regula tions as now observed. It will be understood, however, that they have greater significance for the future than the past, and represent counsels of perfection which have only a very partial embodiment in the Stuttgart of to-day. The first feature of the domestic architecture of Stuttgart to strike a visitor is the almost universal plan which has been followed of building the houses detached, in blocks with a frontage varying from 40 to 80 feet, according as the house is a single or a double one. The detached block has been the prevailing type of building for the past half century, and it gives to the streets a distinct individuality. It is probable that utilitarian reasons—and among them the diminished risk to life and property in case of fire—had more weight than considerations of public health in causing the municipal building authorities to favour this style of house, as they have done since 18o3, yet the choice was well made. The usual space between the blocks is 10 feet. The flat system prevails here, as elsewhere, and in the newer buildings the rule is four or five stories, with lofts in addition for storage purposes. There is no single district which can be described as essentially industrial in character, though some quarters are more so than others, i he stratification of society which is characteristic of German housing arrangements here often produces results which to English people, accustomed to the one family-house system, must seem incongruous. A baron may live on the ground floor of a quiet residential street, a councillor of law or a titled Government official may occupy the rooms above, but on the third floor may be found a small tradesman, and possibly under the roof an artisan or a journeyman brewer earning thirty shillings a week. In less pretentious streets it is very common for the parterre and first story dwellings to be occupied by tradespeople (the landlord almost invariably reserving a lodging for himself on the ground floor), and for the flats above to be let off to working people, the elevation of whose dwellings is a rough measure of their resources. Small tenements and high rents are the common lot of the Stuttgart working classes. 3 N 2 29088

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Cost of living in German towns

Monograph

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation