ASCHAFFENBURG. 
61 
sights, but from the standpoint of housing, they are open to every possible 
objection. They are. however, gradually disappearing. In some of the older 
houses, now inhabited by working people, one comes across fine carved oak 
work—massive balustrades and doors—indicating that they were once the 
houses of well-to-do citizens. Many of these antiquated buildings have been 
condemned, and are now used as workshops and warehouses. A notable feature 
of some of the older survivals is the " Kniestock ” (literally “ Knee-story ”), 
or double attic, where, from the steep roof, one series of dormer windows 
projects above another ; low rooms are here the rule, and the slanting ceiling 
further diminishes the cubical space. 
When the worst has been said of the old houses, however, one excellent 
feature of the housing arrangements of Aschaffenburg, even in the centre of 
the town, remains, viz., the absence of high buildings. Very few houses exceed 
three stories and the ground-floor, and even on the outskirts the speculative 
builder has scarcely dared to defy local tradition in this respect. Where three 
stories are exceeded the fourth takes the form of an attic story, with 
dormer windows or roof lights. Three stories are the normal limit ; many 
houses consist of but the ground-floor and a story above ; and a number 
have but a single habitable story with perhaps a loft above lighted from 
the roof. Not only so, but there is little overcrowding, since with the country 
so near there could be no valid excuse for this. As a rule the houses 
have plenty of open space, the only exceptions being those built centuries 
ago round close courtyards, and they cannot be regarded as representative. 
Back gardens are not uncommon. There are, indeed, back-houses, but they are 
divided from the houses on the street line by ample areas. 
The building regulations are not so stringent as in larger towns which have 
had to grapple with serious housing difficulties. It is required that a tenement 
shall in general consist of at least one heatable room and one bedroom of 
25 square metres (269 square feet) superficial area, together with a kitchen, 
a storeroom for wood, coal, &c., and a privy with separate entrance, and the 
height of the rooms must be at least 8 feet 9 inches, except attic rooms, which 
may be 8 feet 2 inches, maintained over half the floor surface. Furthermore, 
it is required that the rooms shall provide at least the normal cubical space per 
person (343 cubic feet for an adult and 171J for a child), while in the interest 
of ventilation, light, and security in the event of fire, it is stipulated that at least 
a quarter of a building plot must remain open at the rear. It is not required 
that the conveniences shall be within the dwelling ; they may be placed on the 
landings, but they must not be outside the house. Few of the old houses of 
Aschaffenburg, and not a large number of the new ones, have water-closets. 
The cesspool system of drainage is still in vogue. 
As the three-room tenement predominates, a description of such a dwelling 
of modem erection may be given here. Such tenements may be constructed 
singly (that is, one on each floor) or in pairs (that is, two entered from each 
landing), but in each case the internal arrangement is much the same. The 
landing gives approach to an open or closed corridor, upon which the doors of 
all the & apartments abut. Two rooms will generally be lound to the front, while 
behind are the third room, the kitchen, and the convenience, unless this be 
off the stairs half way up from one landing to another. It is the rule for 
all the rooms in a suite, save the kitchen, to be intercommunicable, even if they 
have separate doors opening upon the corridor or landing. The latter arrange 
ment is especially convenient when lodgers are kept, and it also enables a single 
room to be let off as a complete tenement in exceptional cases. 
In typical tenements the corridors are 13 feet long and 3 feet 3 inches 
wide ; the livino- and bedrooms have a depth of 13 feet G inches at the front of 
the house and 13 feet 10 inches at the back, while the width varies from 9 feet 
9 inches to 14 feet 8 inches. As already stated, the Aschaffenburg kitchen is 
almost invariably very small and incapable of use either as a living or a bed 
room, but in exceptional cases many kitchens may be found with dimensions 
of 13 feet by 10 feet. Many of the newer houses have balconies to the 
back, constructed either of concrete or iron, with a plain iron-rail protection, 
which serves in the stead of a clothes-drying cord. In the general finishing of