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.