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ELBERFELD.
Elberfeld is one of the principal towns of the Rhineland, and in manufactures
and industries it most closely corresponds to Bradford amongst English
towns. Like Barmen, which it adjoins, it is situated in the Wupper valley, one
of the larger depressions of the Berg country, stretching roughly from the
river Ruhr in the north to the Sieg in the south. Its population as enumerated
at the census of 1905 was 162,853, against 156,966 in 1900, an increase of
5,887, or 3'7 per cent., against an increase of 12 7 per cent, during the
preceding five years. Elberfeld does not gain as much as some industrial
towns of North Germany by immigration : an exceptionally large proportion
of its population is indigenous.
The following Table shows the population of Elberfeld at the last seven
censuses, and also the increase in population in each inter-censal period.
Census Year.
1871
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905
Population.
71,384
80,589
93,538
106,499
125,899
139,337
156,966
162,853
Increase during Inter-censal Period.
Persons.
9,205
12,949
12,961
19,400
13,438
17,629
5,887
Per cent.
12- 9
16-1
13- 9
18-2
10-7
12-7
3-7
Elberfeld is an industrial and trading town pure and simple. It literally
fills the valley, rising up on both sides of the river in irregular streets and
terraces ; the houses climb up steep declivities, some of which are rendered
extremely quiet by the impossibility of vehicular traffic ; the streets are a
perplexing zig-zag of unrelated lines and curves ; in short, wherever houses
could be squeezed in, they have been built, and the result is a curious patchwork
of architecture. Where the hillside has defied the resources of the builder,
access is obtained to higher levels by flights of stone steps, varying in number
from a score to a hundred ; in one place there is a sheer ascent of nearly a
hundred and fifty steps.
In the older parts of the town the traditional Berg style of domestic
architecture predominates. The original Berg dwelling was a low structure
of wood, brick and plaster, or even of straw and mud, and it has many
representatives in Elberfeld to-day, though the modern builder does not
perpetuate it. Later came a modification in the form of a facing of black slate,
by way of protection against the weather, and this form of house is also met
with in considerable numbers. High gables and large sweeps of roof are
characteristic of all these dwellings.
The streets are, for the most part, narrow, and few ot them are well-paved,
while many are not paved at all. tip to recently the cesspool system of drainage
was universal, and even now the gutters in many parts of the town receive the
w^ash-water of the adjacent houses, to the disfigurement of the streets, though
within several years the costly system of sewerage now in progress will remove
this deficiency.
Through the valley there flows the Wupper stream, made black and noisome
by the in-pourings of trade effluents of every kind, while above it runs the
