HAMBURG.

263

Of  4,207  rent  returns  collected  from  working-class  districts  for  the  purpose
of  this  report  322  or  7*7  per  cent,  related  to  dwellings  of  one  and  two  rooms,
2,159  or  51-3  per  cent,  to  dwellings  of  three  rooms,  and  1,726  or  41  per  cent,  to
dwellings  of  four  rooms.
Baths,  and  still  more  bathrooms,  are  seldom  found  in  working-class
dwellings,  but  as  the  need  of  these  conveniences  receives  growing  recognition
from  other  classes  of  society,  a  corner  of  the  corridor  or  kitchen  is  sometimes
found  for  a  galvanised-iron  bath  in  the  newer  houses  in  working-class  streets.
While  in  1885  only  6*66  per  cent,  of  all  dwellings  had  a  bathroom  of  some  sort,
8*96  per  cent,  in  1890,  10*78  in  1895,  and  13  22  in  1900,  the  percentage  of
all  new  dwellings  built  between  the  years  1896  and  1900  having  baths
was  36*30,  though  that  of  new  dwellings  with  two  and  three  rooms  and
kitchen  was  4*36.
Only  in  the  case  of  the  newer  houses  can  the  sanitary  arrangements  be  said
to  be  satisfactory.  The  closets  are  now  found  within  the  dwellings,  or  at  least
upon  the  landing  or  stairs,  much  more  generally  than  formerly,  though  many
are  still  outside,  and  in  the  case  of  the  old  alleys  and  “  Passages  "  half  a  dozen
households  are  commonly  served  by  a  single  w.c.  In  new  houses  it  is  required
that  the  w.c.  shall  communicate  by  a  window  direct  with  the  open  air,  but  a
great  many  are  only  ventilated  by  means  of  a  small  pipe.
Modern  working-class  tenements  in  Hamburg  only  differ  in  one  essential,
and  that  is  the  number  of  their  rooms,  viz.,  either  two  or  three  besides  the
kitchen.  The  two  types  may  be  illustrated  by  houses  in  the  Brauerknechtgraben
(situated  in  the  Improvement  Area),  and  Stuvkamp,  Barmbeck,  respectively.
In  the  former  house  there  are  two  tenements  on  each  floor,  and  the  entrance
is  in  the  middle  of  the  building.  Each  tenement  has  an  ample  corridor,  from
which  access  is  given  to  all  the  three  rooms,  no  two  rooms  being  intercommunicable.
  The  “  best  ”  room  and  a  bedroom  lie  to  the  front  and  the
kitchen  is  at  the  back,  its  French  window  opening  on  to  a  balcony,  while
off  one  corner  is  a  small  pantry.  The  w.c.,  as  in  all  modern  dwellings,  is
in  the  corridor.  The  dimensions  of  the  living  and  bed  rooms  are  16  feet
2  inches  by  9  feet  5  inches  and  13  feet  by  9  feet  5  inches,  and  of  the  kitchen
12  feet  8  inches  by  9  feet  5  inches.  The  four-room  tenements  in  the  typical
Barmbeck  house  have  the  same  accessories  of  corridor  (in  this  case,  6  feet
7  inches  long  by  4  feet  2  inches  wide),  pantry,  and  w.c.,  but  here  each  of
the  two  tenements  found  on  every  floor  has  two  rooms  to  the  front.  All  the
apartments  are  entered  from  the  corridor  direct,  and,  as  before,  no  two  are
inter-communicable.  The  dimensions  of  the  living  and  bed  rooms  are  as
follows  :—(1)  17  feet  2  inches  by  12  feet  ;  (2)  12  feet  by  12  feet  ;  (3)  12  feet
by  9  feet  9  inches,  while  the  kitchen  is  14  feet  7  inches  by  6  feet  6  inches.
A  noteworthy  development  in  block  building  has  of  late  been  devised  in
the  form  of  the  "  Horseshoe  ”  type  of  architecture.  Here  there  is  no  courtyard
behind,  but  the  portion  of  the  building  site  which  according  to  the  bye-laws  must
remain  unoccupied  is  placed  in  front  in  the  shape  of  a  rough  rectangle  open  to
the  street  and  built  round  on  three  sides.  As  this  space  is  generally  planted,
the  effect  is  as  advantageous  to  the  appearance  of  the  street  as  it  is  to  the
amenity  and  value  of  the  contiguous  tenements,  for  a  larger  number  of  rooms
can  be  built  with  a  front  aspect  and  the  gloom  of  the  courtyard  is  avoided.
The  only  serious  disadvantage  of  the  “  Horseshoe  ”  .  plan  of  building  is  that
when  the  open  space  is  used  as  a  garden  the  children  of  the  house  have
to  play  in  the  street.  Naturally  it  is  only  large  blocks  that  can  be  built  in
this  way.
Housing  conditions,  and  with  them  the  rents,  vary  greatly  in  Hamburg.
In  general  the  highest  rents,  even  for  inferior  dwellings,  are  in  the  Inner  Town,
yet  it  is  found  that  competition  is  gradually  forcing  up  rents  in  the  newer
districts,  though  for  the  present  a  certain  over-production—the  number  of
empty  dwellings  in  1906  was  10,340  or  4*7  per  cent,  of  the  whole—may  be
expected  to  keep  this  tendency  in  check.  The  following  is  a  statement  giving
the  predominant  weekly  rents  for  the  older  and  newer  portions  of  the  town