\
HAMBURG.
262
ment of four rooms—“ Best ” room, 11 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 1 inch by 9 feet
3 inches ; living-room, 11 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 5| inches by 9 feet 3 inches ;
bedroom, 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches ; kitchen, 12 feet
4 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches. The corridor had a length of
12 feet and a width of 4 feet ; the rent was £17 per annum, or about 6s. 6d.
per week. The houses in Rothenburgsort and the Bill warder district are of the
same type, though many of recent erection enjoy accessories which the older houses
lack, such as larders, attics and balconies. The balcony is increasingly popular,
and builders cannot afford to omit it nowadays if they would attract tenants.
Inter-communicable suites of rooms are not usual in working-class
dwellings. The corridor or vestibule is universal in all save the old houses, and
from this space, which is known variably as the " Vorplatz ” or “ Diele,” each of
the rooms is approached. Often the corridor is large enough for the storage of
superfluous furniture, clothes, &c., and not uncommonly it is used as a bedroom.
The aspect of the homes of the working classes of Hamburg suggests that
their occupants set great store by comfort, and do not willingly cripple their
accommodation. Neatness, order, and cleanliness are plainly cultivated, and
save in the dwellings of the poor, the furniture is ample if simple. One striking
characteristic of the workman is his fondness for a " Good ” or “ Best ” room,
answering to the English workman’s sitting-room or “ parlour,” though the
furnishing is only seldom equal to that of the English “ parlour.” Whatever the
size of the tenement, however large the household, one room is almost invariably
set aside for special use. The kitchen may have to serve as the living-room,
there may be four beds in one bedroom, but the “ Good ” or " Best ” room will
not be diverted from its traditional purpose. So, too, a kitchen is regarded as
no less indispensable than a “ Best ” room, and few dwellings of modern erection
are without. At the Census of 1900 there were only 3,459 dwellings in all
Hamburg (equal to 2'23 per cent, of the whole) without separate kitchens ; of
these 293 or 8"4 per cent, had nevertheless three rooms, 1,500 or 43’3 per cent,
had two rooms, and 1,574 or 45*5 per cent, had but one room. It is noticeable
also that the dwellings without kitchens were found particularly in the older
districts ; thus while the proportion was not 1 per cent, in the working-class
district of Barmbeck, outside the ancient area, and only 0 32 per cent, in
Billwärder Ausschlag, it was nearly 5 per cent, in the Altstadt.
Hence it is that a working-class household regards three rooms (including
the kitchen) as a minimum requirement, while a considerable proportion of the
wage-earners are found in tenements of four rooms. At the Census of December,
1900, it was found that of 155,436 dwellings classified, only 1,574 or
one per cent, consisted of a single room, 6,002 or 3"9 per cent, consisted of two
rooms (the kitchen and non-heatable rooms being here indiscriminately
regarded as rooms), 38,467 or 24'7 per cent, consisted of three rooms, and
58,234 or 37'5 per cent, consisted of four rooms. The proportion of three and
four room tenements in the case of new buildings is still greater. The following
classification of all the new dwellings which have been added during the past
seven years shows that the three-room tenements form 31’6 per cent, of the
whole and the four-room tenements 37*6 per cent. :—
Year.
Number of dwellings with rooms (including kitchen) as stated.
6 and more.
Total.
1906
1905
1904
1903
1902
1901
1900
Totals
Percentage
364
466
272
288
103
49
103
1,645
30
5,387
4,095
3,067
2,093
1,228
646
415
4,620
4,078
3,850
3,188
2,226
1,219
948
1,206
996
1,093
1,415
950
525
554
16,931
20,129
6,739
31-6
37 6
12-6
1,243
1,275
1,334
1,421
1,153
871
725
8,022
15 0
12,820
10,910
9,616
8,405
5,660
3,310
2,745
53,466
1000
