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
