HAMBURG.

261

the  special  characteristic  of  the  modern  Hamburg  house,  for  the  builders  have
interpreted  the  term  “  cellar”  in  such  a  way  that  it  really  constitutes  the  ground
floor.  The  bye-laws  laid  down  the  rule  that  the  floor  of  a  “  cellar  ”  (which  might
only  be  used  as  a  dwelling  in  front  houses)  should  not  be  more  than  3  feet
3  inches  below  the  surface.  It  was  not  re  paire  1,  however,  that  it  must  be  so  low
as  that,  and  the  builder  recognised  that  by  keeping  the  cellar  floor  as  near  as
possible  to  the  level  of  the  adjacent  ground,  he  obtained  six  good  habitable
stories  instead  of  five,  and  so  had  a  better  return  for  his  money.  Hence,  cellar
stories  were  for  a  long  time  built  only  one  or  two  inches  below  the  surface,
until  the  question  was,  in  1888,  submitted  to  the  Court,  which  decided  that  the
floor  of  a  cellar  within  the  meaning  of  the  regulations  must  be  at  least  15  centimetres, ­
  or  about  6  inches,  below  the  adjacent  ground.  Even  so,  the  modern
Hamburg  cellar  is  only  a  cellar  in  name,  and  is  practically  the  ground  floor.
The  result  is  that  the  attics  have  to  serve  as  storehouses  for  wood  and  miscellaneous ­
  goods.
There  are  many  basement  dwellings,  real  and  nominal,  both  in  the  old  and
new  parts  of  the  town.  At  the  Census  of  1900,  the  number  inhabited  was  9,921,
against  9,118  in  1895,  8,057  in  1890,  6,948  in  1885,  5,747  in  1880,  and  4,439
in  1875.  The  number  of  inhabitants  resident  in  basement  dwellings  in  1900  was
43,272,  or  6'20  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  while  the  basement  formed  6’35  per  cent,  of
all  dwellings.  Yet  the  low-lying  and  unhealthy  basement  dwellings  attached  to
old  houses  in  the  Inner  Town  are  gradually  being  disused,  while  those  in  the
newer  parts  of  the  town—like  Eppendorf  and  Barmbeck,  vdiere  the  increase  has
latterly  been  greatest—are,  as  a  rule,  but  little  inferior  to  dwellings  entirely
above  ground.
Outside  the  old  area  of  the  town  building  has  followed  the  usual  German
lines.  The  “  barrack  ”  house  of  five  and  six  stories  and  many  tenements  early
made  its  appearance,  and  the  back  house  and  side  wing  were  largely  developed
during  the  last  two  decades  of  last  century.  The  primitive  Hamburg  house  was
a  structure  of  one  and  two  stories,  and  the  ancient  and  modern  types  may
often  be  seen  together  to-day,  the  one  18  or  20  feet  high,  the  other  60  or  70  feet.
The  tendency  to  build  large  houses  is  reflected  in  the  growing  density  of
population.  Between  1885  and  1900  the  number  of  persons  per  inhabited
building  increased  from  17*88  to  21*71.
It  may  be  noted  here  that  the  single-family  house  plays  nowadays  but  an
insignificant  part  in  the  housing  arrangements  of  Hamburg,  and  excepting  some
very  old  half-timber  structures  and  several  modern  groups  of  one-story
dwellings  of  a  very  circumscribed  and  simple  character,  it  hardly  exists  so  far  as
the  working  classes  are  concerned.  In  1900  not  5  per  cent,  of  the  houses  in
Hamburg  (excluding  those  in  which  business  was  carried  on)  were  of  the  singlefamily
  type.
The  industrial  working  classes  and  other  workers  not  employed  in  or  about
the  harbour  live  largely  in  the  east  and  north-east  of  the  town,  in  Hammerbrook,
  Bill  warder  Ausschlag,  Rothenburgsort,  and  especially  Barmbeck,  which
is  distinctively  a  working-class  quarter.  There  both  old  and  new  houses  are
found,  and  according  to  their  age  is  their  quality,  but  dark  corners  are  here
exceptional.  Blocks  of  from  three  to  four  stories  are  the  rule,  though  five
stories  are  not  rare,  and  the  usual  accommodation  is  two  or  three  rooms  and  a
serviceable  kitchen.  Corridors  are  general  and  it  is  seldom  that  one  corridor
serves  for  two  dwellings  ;  still  more  seldom  that  kitchens  are  shared.  An
abundance  of  windows  is  noticeable  in  the  older  houses,  a  characteristic  of
Hamburg  dwellings  which  has  descended  from  ancient  times.  Two-window
rooms  are  popular,  and  one  at  least  of  this  size  belongs  to  a  well-ordered
tenement.
The  rooms  of  two  typical  dwellings  visited  in  Barmbeck  were  found  to  have
the  following  dimensions  :—(1)  Tenement  of  three  rooms—“  Best  ”  or  sittingroom
  14  feet  34  inches  by  13  feet  by  8  leet  2  inches  ;  bedroom,  13  feet  8  inches
by  8  feet  1  \  inches  by  8  feet  2T  inches  ;  kitchen,  12  feet  4  inches  by  9  feet
3  inches  by  8  feet  2  inches.  This  was  the  dwelling  of  a  large  household,
insomuch  that  there  were  four  beds  in  the  bedroom  and  the  corridor  was  used  as
a  bedroom  ;  the  rent  was  £11  10s.  per  annum  or  4s.  5c/.  per  week.  (2)  Tene-