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 arrangement
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 bedroom,
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
