KÖNIGSBERG.

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municipalities,  that  of  Königsberg  owns  little  or  no  land.  There  are,  it  is  true,
some  small  and  well  laid  out  public  parks,  but  these  are  not  readily  accessible
from  the  chief  working  class  quarters,  except  at  the  cost  of  the  return  fare
(2d.)  on  the  Municipal  electric  tramway.  The  one  really  note-worthy  intramural ­
  open  space  is  an  ornamental  lake  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  length,  and
varying  from  50  to  150  yards  in  width,  which  runs  north-east  and  south-west,
and  practically  bisects  the  northern  half  of  the  town.  But  only  a  small
proportion  of  the  borders  of  this  lake  is  open  to  the  public,  the  greater  part
being  occupied  by  the  gardens  belonging  to  hospitals,  schools,  clubs,  and  the
offices  of  the  military  staff.
Quick  and  cheap  communication  between  all  parts  of  the  town  and  with  a
number  of  outlying  pleasure  resorts  is  maintained  by  the  electric  tramways,  of
which  all  but  a  single  line  are  owned  by  the  Municipality.  Throughout  the
summer,  pleasure  steamers  ply  daily  up  and  down  the  Pregel.  The  Town
contributes  £G00  per  annum  to  the  company  which  owns  the  theatre,  on
condition  that  any  dividend  in  excess  of  4  per  cent,  shall  accrue  to  the
municipality,  which  may  use  the  money  for  the  gradual  acquisition  of  all  the
shares.
The  following  Table  shows  the  increase  in  the  population  of  Königsberg
since  1871  :—

Year.

Population.

Increase.

Increase  per  cent.

1871
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905

112,152
122,636
140,909
151,151
161,666
172,796
189,483
223,770

10,484
18,273
10,242
10,515
11,130
16,687
34,287

9-4
14-9
7-3
7-0
6-9
9-7
18-1

It  will  be  seen  that  the  population  has  increased  fairly  rapidly,  considering
the  restriction  of  available  building  space,  having  doubled  itself  since  1871.  In
this  increase  the  arrival  of  new  settlers  has,  it  would  appear,  been  a  stronger
factor  than  the  natural  growth  of  the  population  ;  for,  during  the  period
1888-1905,  the  mean  annual  excess  of  immigrants  over  emigrants  per  1,000  of
the  population  was  7*7,  while  the  rate  of  excess  of  births  over  deaths  was  only
6T  per  1,000.
The  following  table  shows  the  birth,  death,  and  infantile  mortality  rates
at  Königsberg  for  the  years  1901-05  :—

Year.

Birth-rate  per
1,000  of  Population.

Death-rate  per
1,000  of  Population.

Infant  Mortality  Rate
per  1  000  Births.

1901
1902
1903
1904
1905

31-2
306
29-0
29-8
28-8

23-4
22  5
22  7
22-1
231

246
171
233
198
247

Formerly,  the  town  was  noted  among  the  larger  German  cities  for  its  low
birth-rate,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  no  longer  prominent  in  this  respect  is  due  to  the
birth-rate  having  since  declined  more  rapidly  in  the  other  large  towns  than  in
Königsberg.  Among  every  100  children  born  in  1905,  some  15  were  illegitimate. ­
  a  proportion  that  compares  favourably  with  that  of  other  German
university  towns,  g.y.,  Munich,  .Dresden,  Leipzig,  Breslau,  Halle,  and  Strassourg,
where  the  illegitimate  births  represented  2i  2,  18  6,  lo  8,  18  3,  lb  1,  and
18'b  per  cent,  respectively  of  all  births  in  1905.  Few  German  cities  have
so  high  a  death  -  rate  as  Königsberg,  although  the  figure  has  greatly
declined  in  recent  years,  more  especially  since  the  substitution,  in  the
year  1900,  of  modern  drainage  for  the  old  cesspool  system.  The  mean  of
the  rates  for  the  five  years  1901-05  was  22’8,  a  proportion  exceeded  by  only
2  M  2

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