166
DANTZIG.
municipal electrical works and public slaughter-house on the east. Generally
speaking, the working classes of Dantzig seem inclined to choose a dwelling
either in the immediate neighbourhood of these various works or else in the
Old Town, rather than in the new suburbs which have sprung up on the north
and west since the removal of the fortifications in these directions. This is
a point to which further reference will be made later. Meanwhile it may be
observed that the whole urban or municipal area of present-day Dantzig extends
far beyond the lines of * the present fortifications ; the maintenance of these
defences is a serious obstacle to the erection of houses within certain zones
which are subject to what are known as the Rayonsgesetze or laws regulating
the erection of houses within a fortified area. Thus while the urban district of
Dantzig comprises an area of 7,874 acres, only 1,396 or a little more than
one-sixth of this space is occupied by houses, and 500 acres by roads, streets
and railways. On the other hand there are 1,020 acres of land used for
military purposes, and only 20 acres of public parks and gardens. It is
not to be supposed from this that the people of Dantzig have very
restricted facilities for open-air recreation. The contrary is indeed the case,
for there are large tracts of woodland owned by the municipality within
easy reach of the town and kept in their natural state for the benefit
of the inhabitants. The sea can be reached by train, electric tramway
or steamboat for a few pence in less than an hour, and that these facilities
are extensively used is evident from the fact that during a Sunday in summer
the railways alone have taken from 26,000 to 28,000 passengers to and
from the sea in the direction either of Neufahrwasser (the port of Dantzig)
or of Zoppot, a sea-bathing resort a few miles further west along the Baltic
shore.
As regards the growth of population Dantzig ranks low among the great
cities of Germany. At the Census of 1905 it was found to contain 159,648
inhabitants, the mean population being estimated as 158,300.
The following Table shows the mean population, together with the birth
and death rates and rate of natural increase of the population of Dantzig for
the 15 years, 1891-1905 :—
Year.
Mean
Population.
Birth rate
per 1,000 of mean
Population.
Death-rate
per 1,000 of mean
Population.
Rate of Infantile
Mortality
per 1,000 Births.
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
3900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
121,140
122,380
123,390
124,310
125,230
127,400
130.300
133,270
136,560
139,530
142,790
146,240
153.300
156,100
158.300
35 7
321
331
331
32 8
33 4
334
342
362
34 2
35 8
361
343
334
331
254
22 7
26- 7
24-0
25 6
21-8
25 7
22-2
23-3
27- 9
23 6
22- 3
22-6
216
23- 3
269
259
299
264
295
245
303
243
266
320
266
209
244
220
246
In 1881 the mean population was 109,280, so that in the period of
25 years the increase in the population has been less than 50 per cent.
While the birth and death rates show considerable fluctuations, the general
tendency of both has been to decline, the latter more noticeably than the
former. Dantzig has still a somewhat high rate of infant mortality ; it will
be seen that the figures for the last five years show a considerable decline, the
mean of the rates for 1901-5 being 237, as against 277 for 1891-5 and 275 for
1896-1900.
In the matter of drainage and water supply Dantzig is in advance of many
larger cities in Germany. Indeed, with respect to the former it claims to have
been the first city on the Continent to introduce a trunk system of drainage.
