132 
BRUNSWICK. 
stairs there is a spacious landing (“ Vorplatz”), which not only separates the 
tenements but serves as a playground for the children and a washplace for the 
housewives, though the drying of clothes has to be done in the loft. In addition 
to the rooms of the various dwellings grouped round the landing there is also at 
least one bedroom belonging to a dwelling situated on the floor beneath, for it 
is a peculiarity of Old Brunswick that the second bedroom of a tenement is 
invariably situated in a different storey. Cases occur indeed where each of four 
bedrooms in the top floor belongs to a different tenement. In many instances 
the landing is badly lighted so that the visitor on emerging from the stairs 
finds himself in semi-darkness, while the floor is often cemented and uneven.* 
In not a few houses the stairs, which have no side rails, resemble a series of ladders. 
Many of the upper rooms in these houses are so low that persons above medium 
height cannot walk upright. A whole family seldom lives in one room, 
nevertheless the dirt and gloom, the crowding together of tenements in a narrow 
area, the rickety state of floors and stairs, and in general the entire absence of 
conditions suggestive of home comfort impress the visitor unfavourably. 
Entering a typical working-class tenement in Old Brunswick, the living 
room will invariably be found to be well lighted, having two windows 
which usually overlook the street. The narrow wooden bedsteads found 
everywhere in German working-class homes are frequently so crowded into it 
that they touch each other. No provision is made for heating the room and 
beyond an occasional chair or large box there is nothing in the way of furniture. 
The regulations in connection with the newly established system of house 
inspection state that a bedroom shall be considered to be overcrowded when it 
does not contain 353 cubic feet of air space for each individual over 10 years of 
age sleeping in it, and 1761-cubic feet for each child under 10 years. The 
regulations also insist on the separation of the sexes in the case of unmarried 
persons and of children over 14 years of age, the separation to be effected by 
means of different rooms or cubicles. As a rule the bedroom is entered directly 
from the living room, but in the oldest class of houses these rooms are frequently 
separated by the recess which serves as a kitchen and which opens on to the 
landing. The kitchen cannot be regarded as a room, and is described truthfully 
by the local appellation of “ Kochstelle ” or " cooking place.” It is frequently 
nothing more than a small recess between two rooms and is quite dark, so that 
the housewife must light a lamp or candle when she wishes to cook. It is not 
surprising, therefore, that the cooking is frequently done in the living room on 
what is known as a “ canon stove,” which serves also for the purpose of heating. 
It is significant that in Old Brunswick the tall stove usually found in German 
households is seldom met with, its place being taken by the kind just mentioned, 
on which only two pans can be placed at the same time. A small portable 
oven, which resembles an iron box on four legs, is also found in nearly every 
home. The coke used in these primitive ovens is the residue of lignite after 
paraffin and other substances have been extracted ; it will smoulder for hours 
together and is kept burning day and night. The merit of cheapness is 
certainly possessed by these ovens, as they only cost from 4d. or 5d. per week 
for fuel. On the other hand, the fumes of sulphur, which are only in rare 
instances conveyed by a flue into the outer air, undoubtedly vitiate the 
atmosphere of the dwelling. 
Passing to the newer portion of the town a considerable improvement is 
observable both in the outward appearance of working-class dwellings and the 
general conditions within. Instead of running in rows the houses are mostly 
built in small blocks called “ double-houses,” separated from each other by 
passages usually 16 feet 3 inches in width. This "open style ” of building is 
prescribed by the municipal authorities for certain streets, which may be 
determined upon as circumstances require. I he building regulations limit the 
height of buildings used as dwellings in the old town to 65 feet and in the new 
town to 59 feet. The number of storeys is likewise restricted to three in certain 
streets in the new town, whilst four storeys are permitted in others. The height 
of buildings is also determined by its relation to the width of the street. Thus 
in the old town they may not rise higher than 28 feet when the width of the 
street does not exceed 21 feet 4 inches, when, however, the street is more than 
21 feet 4 inches wide the height of the adjoining buildings may exceed its 
width by 6 feet 6 inches. In the new town, buildings may be erected to a