DÜSSELDORF.

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Wages  in  Düsseldorf  are  considerably  higher  than  in  almost  all  other  towns
in  Germany.  Representing  wages  in  Berlin  by  100,  the  following  figures  indicate ­
  the  level  of  wages  in  Düsseldorf  in  certain  trades  :—Building  trades,  85  for
skilled  men,  and  103  for  labourers  ;  engineering  trades,  98  for  skilled  men,  and
103  for  labourers  ;  printing  trades,  90.
The  working  classes  of  Düsseldorf,  as  might  be  judged  from  the  character
of  the  staple  industries,  are  highly  organised.  All  three  types  of  Trade  Unions
—the  Social  Democratic,  the  Hirsch-Duncker,  and  the  “Christian”—exist  in  the
town  and  work  on  independent  lines,  occasions  of  common  action  occurring  but
seldom.  The  Social  Democratic  organisation  has  a  large  Central  Bureau,  the
Gewerkschaftshaus,  in  which  the  allied  societies  and  the  Workmen’s  Secretariate
have  their  rooms,  while  the  Roman  Catholic  societies  are  worked  along  with  a
Hospice  for  travelling  and  single  workmen  and  a  People’s  Inquiry  Bureau.  The
Hirsch-Duncker  societies  have  also  an  Inquiry  Bureau.  Employment  agencies
are  conducted  by  all  three  organisations.
Housing  and  Rents.
The  census  of  December,  1905,  showed  that  there  were  in  Düsseldorf  12,846
dwelling-houses  containing  57,416  dwellings,  giving  an  average  of  4  5  dwellings
per  house.  Large  buildings  are  becoming  more  and  more  the  fashion,  as  land
increases  in  value,  yet  Düsseldorf  still  retains  a  considerable  proportion  of  houses
of  one  and  two  stories,  viz.,  24  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  though  the  number
steadily  decreases  ;  in  1893  the  proportion  of  such  houses  was  36  per  cent.,  and
in  1878  54  percent.  The  one-story  buildings  have  decreased  from  24  per  cent,
in  1878  to  7  per  cent,  in  1905.
The  characteristics  which,  generally  speaking,  distinguish  the  streets  of  any
modern  industrial  town  in  Germany  from  those  of  corresponding  towns  in  the
United  Kingdom—such  as  greater  width  and  regularity,  brighter  and  more
ornate  house  fronts,  absence  of  advertisers’  hoardings  and  of  public-house  signs,
wider  and  less  crowded  pavements—are  particularly  noticeable  in  those  parts  of
Düsseldorf  which  are  inhabited  mainly  by  the  working  classes,  namely,  the
Oberbilk,  Flingern  and  Derendorf  districts,  the  Grafenberger  Allée,  and  the
Coiner  Chaussée.  The  stranger  entering  a  street  in  any  of  these  districts  for  the
first  time  finds  it  difficult  to  reconcile  its  outward  appearance  with  the  fact  that
each  house  contains  probably  from  eight  to  ten  working-class  families.  As  a
rule  the  houses  here  are  four  stories  high,  and,  as  in  practically  all  large  German
towns,  the  fiat  system  is  universal.  Another  feature  common  to  the  workingclass
  dwellings  is  that  every  family  renting  a  tenement  in  a  house  has  a  share  in
the  cellarage,  which,  as  a  rule,  is  extensive  and  divided  by  means  of  wooden
railings  into  separate  compartments,  each  with  its  own  lock  and  key.  I  hese
cellars  are  generally  used  for  the  storage  of  coal  and  lumber.  Again,  each
tenant  in  turn  has  a  right  to  the  use  of  the  loft  space  immediately  beneath  the
roof  as  a  place  in  which  to  dry  the  family  linen.  The  portion  of  the  lort  set
apart  for  this  purpose  is  in  most  cases  that  iurthest  from  the  street,  and  is
fitted  with  horizontal  wooden  bars  (or  occasionally  with  lines)  on  which  the
clothes  are  hung.  The  part  of  the  attic  space  towards  the  front  of  the  house  is
in  most  cases  divided  into  habitable  compartments  with  plastered  sides  and
ceiling,  and  a  small  dormer  window  or  skylight  in  the  sloping  side  formed  by
the  roof.  These  compartments  are  known  as  or  éyMzcAgrnmmgr,
and  are  let  either  separately  or  as  adjuncts  to  the  tenements  below.  It  is
therefore  no  uncommon  thing  in  Düsseldorf  to  find  a  workman’s  dwelling
consisting  of  one  or  two  rooms,  say,  on  the  ground  floor  and  one  in  the  loft.
It  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  houses  in  the  Rhineland  and  W  estphalia  that  the
kitchen  is  not,  as  a  rule,  reckoned  separately.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the
stove  is  portable  and  belongs  to  the  tenant.  As  a  rule  a  back  room  is  used  as  a
kitchen,  though  the  choice  depends  in  some  measure  on  the  Requirements  of  the
family  in  bedroom  accommodation.  If  large  enough,  the  kitchen  may  also  be
used  as  a  sitting-room.  With  few  exceptions  ail  the  houses  aie  provided  v\ith
w.c.’s  on  each  landing  ;  in  very  many  cases  with  one  for  each  family.  The
floors  of  the  landings  and  stairs  are  generally  painted,  and  bv  the  teims  of  the
contract  the  tenants  of  each  flat  are  required  to  wash  them  twice  a  week  on
Wednesday  and  Saturday—in  turn.  The  duty  of  sweeping  and  cleansing  the
pavement  in  front  of  the  house  falls  to  the  tenants  on  tue  ground  floor.

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