MÜLHAUSEN.

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maisons  ouvrières  save  in  name,  for  their  owners  belonged  to  a  different  class
altogether,  and  they  altered  and  remodelled  their  houses  to  their  liking.  None
the  less,  the  Cité,  both  old  and  new,  plays  a  very  important  part  in  the  social
life  of  Mülhausen,  and  is  in  many  respects  one  of  the  bright  spots  in  the
housing  arrangements  of  the  working-classes.  A  large  number  of  the  dwellings
belong  to  their  occupiers,  and  where  bought  long  ago  the  owners  find
themselves  in  possession  of  property  which  has  increased  30  and  even
50  per  cent,  in  value.  For  example,  small  houses  which  were  sold  by  the
Society  at  a  cost  price  of  from  £150  to  £180  are  now  worth  £250,  and  even
more.  To  rent  such  houses  costs  from  25s.  to  28s.  a  month.  At  the  present
time  the  Cité  houses  number  between  1,200  and  1,300,  and  their  2,500
tenements  accommodate  some  13,000  people.  To  the  institutions  of  the  Cité
belong  a  people’s  kitchen  and  a  bakehouse,  where  food  is  sold  at  very  low
prices,  a  washhouse  and  bathing  establishment,  a  library,  and  a  creche  for  the
infants  of  working-class  homes.
This  is  not  the  only  experiment  in  industrial  dwellings—though  it  is  the
oldest  and  largest—which  has  been  made  at  Mülhausen.  Several  other  societies
are  endeavouring  by  practical  efforts  to  raise  the  housing  standard  of  the  town
and  to  educate  the  working-classes  to  the  appreciation  of  comfortable  and
commodious  homes.  A  notable  work  is  that  of  the  “  Union  Home.”  In
1901,  M.  balance  gave  to  this  society  the  sum  of  £4,000,  afterwards  increased
to  £5,600,  as  the  nucleus  of  a  fund  for  the  erection  of  improved  dwellings  on
the  flat  system  for  people  of  small  means.  The  houses  are  of  three  stories  and
the  tenements  of  two  sizes—two  rooms  and  a  kitchen  and  three  rooms  and  a
kitchen,  with  cellaring.  The  entire  floor  space  is  about  480  square  feet  in  the
two-room  tenements  and  650  square  feet  in  those  of  three  rooms,  and  the  height
of  the  rooms  is  9  feet.  Each  tenement  has  an  ample  corridor,  in  one  corner
of  which  is  the  water-closet,  and  the  general  arrangements  are  admirable.  The
building  itself  is  substantially  and  attractively  executed,  and  the  entire  cost  of  a
double  house  containing  12  tenements  of  two  rooms  and  kitchen,  and  two
single  houses  each  containing  six  tenements  of  three  rooms  and  kitchen
(making  24  tenements  altogether)  has  been  £5,600,  the  smaller  tenements
costing  £223  each  and  the  larger  £242  on  an  average.  The  rents  are  fixed  at
13a.  6d.  per  month  for  two-room  tenements  on  the  ground  floor  and  14a.  6d.
above,  and  for  three-room  tenements  17a.  3d.  and  19a.  3d.  respectively.
The  “  Union  Home”  has  also  erected  (1905-6)  a  number  of  tenements  of
two,  three,  and  four  rooms  with  kitchen  in  buildings  consisting  of  four  stories
and  attic.  The  kitchens  are  of  large  size,  and  correspond  to  the  English
working-class  kitchen  of  the  better  class  which  is  used  as  a  living  room.
The  general  dimensions  of  the  rooms  are  as  follows  :—
A.—Tenements  of  two  rooms  and  kitche7i.
(1)  15  X  13  X  10  feet  ;  (2)  13  x  10  x  10  feet  ;  kitchen  14  x  10  x  10  feet.
B.—Tenements  of  three  rooms  and  kitchen.
(1)  17  x  14  x  10  feet;  (2)  14  x  12  x  10  feet;  (3)  15  x  10  x  10  feet;
kitchen  14  x  11  x  10  feet.
C  .  —  Tenements  of  four  rooms  and  kitchen.
(1  and  2)  14  x  12  x  9  feet;  (3)  14  x  11  x  9  feet  ;  (4)  11  x  11  x
9  feet  ;  kitchen  11  x  11  x  9  feet.
The  water-closets  are  in  the  corridors,  and  each  tenant  has  part  of  the  attic
and  cellarage.  The  rents  are  20s.  per  month  for  two  rooms  and  kitchen,  26s.  for
three  rooms  and  kitchen,  and  32s.  for  four  rooms  and  kitchen.  A  few  tenements
of  one  room  and  a  kitchen  are  let  at  12s.  per  month.  The  society  has  44  of
these  dwellings  (viz.,  27  of  two  rooms  and  kitchen,  seven  of  three  rooms  and
kitchen,  three  of  four  rooms  and  kitchen,  five  of  one  room  and  kitchen,  and
two  of  two  rooms  with  shop),  and  does  not  sell  to  the  occupiers.
To  the  best  of  the  model  working-class  dwellings  in  Mülhausen  belongs  a
series  just  built  by  the  municipality.  They  are  built  detached,  each  block
surrounded  by  a  considerable  piece  of  land,  and  the  style  of  architecture  suggests ­
  rather  a  small  suburban  villa  than  a  workman’s  dwelling.  Most  of  the
dwellings  consist  of  three  rooms  and  a  kitchen,  with  a  portion  of  the  attic  and
the  use  of  a  common  drying-ground,  and  the  rents  for  such  accommodation
2  z

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