BERLIN.  3
.As  the  working  classes  are  localised  residentially,  so  industry,  too,  has  in
course  of  time  taken  a  certain  geographical  distribution.  Thus  in  the  North
and  West  are  the  large  engineering  and  electrical  works,  though  small  concerns
are  to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  The  East  has  become  the  special
centre  of  the  wood  and  textile  industries,  and  to  some  extent  of  the
paper  goods  industry  and  the  clothing  trade  (though  the  traditional  home  of
this  trade  is  the  Centre),  while  on  the  outskirts  in  this  direction  are  various
chemical  and  dye  works.  The  brass  and  metal  goods,  the  lamp  and  button,  and
the  bijouterie  industries  are  located  in  the  East  and  South,  and  to  some  extent
in  the  Centre.  The  printing  and  lithographic  works,  in  so  far  as  they  are  not
diffused  throughout  the  business  parts  of  the  town,  tend  to  concentrate  in
the  South.
Even  in  the  parts  of  the  city  in  which  the  working  classes  chiefly  live,  one
meets  with  few  such  outward  signs  of  poverty  as  are  to  be  seen  in  any  large
English  industrial  town.  But  when  from  the  broad  boulevards  one  turns  into
the  courtyards  behind  the  street  fronts  and  ascends  to  the  higher  stories  where
the  working  classes  live,  one  is  faced  with  contrasts  hard  to  reconcile  with  the
impressions  which  have  been  derived  outside.  As  often  as  not  the  dwellings
will  be  found  to  consist  of  two  rooms  only—one  used  as  a  living  and  bedroom,
and  thus  occupied  day  and  night  all  the  year  through,  and  the  other  a  small
kitchen,  which  is  likewise  made  to  serve  as  a  bedroom—and  here  may  be
crowded  together  a  family  of  four,  five,  six,  or  more  persons.  At  the  census  of
December,  1900,  there  were  in  Berlin  4,086  dwellings  consisting  only  of  a
kitchen,  and  11  per  cent,  of  them  were  inhabited  by  four  persons  and  upwards,
while  over  24,000  households  lived  in  basement  tenements.
The  furniture  of  a  working-class  dwelling,  even  of  the  better  class,  is,  as
a  rule,  but  scanty,  though  it  should  be  observed  that  "  over-furnished  ”  homes
are  unusual  in  Germany  in  any  rank  of  life.  Where  a  room  is  used  both  as  a
living  and  bedroom,  a  table,  several  chairs,  and  a  simple  wardrobe,  with
the  beds,  generally  exhaust  all  the  available  space.  It  is  noteworthy  that  pianos
are  not  met  with  in  wmrking-class  dwellings,  though  the  Germans  are,  as  a
nation,  very  musical,  and  Berlin  is  an  important  centre  of  the  piano  industry.
Even  sewing  machines  are  not  common  unless  used  as  a  means  of  livelihood.
The  kitchen  furniture  is  confined  to  a  couple  of  chairs,  a  crockery  rack,  and
the  necessary  cooking  utensils,  unless  the  apartment  be  used  also  as  a  livingroom.

It  is  often  remarked  that  beggars  are  seldom  seen  in  German  towns,  and
Berlin  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  explanation  is  not  that  there  is  no
poverty,  but  that  the  law  does  not  tolerate  open  mendicity.  During  the  year
1905,  8,301  persons  were  convicted  of  begging,  at  the  two  courts  of  summary
jurisdiction,  Alexanderplatz  and  Moabit,  and  5,152  of  being  culpably  without  a
place  of  abode  ;  the  corresponding  convictions  in  1904  were  10,069  and  3,295.
A  large  number  of  Berlin’s  mendicants  find  their  way  to  an  institution  at
Rummelsburg  several  miles  away,  known  as  the  "  Municipal  Workhouse.”
During  the  administrative  year  1905—6,  1,888  persons  (178  of  them  women)
were  sentenced  to  detention  in  this  Workhouse.  Of  the  men  47*7  per  cent,
were  imprisoned  for  begging,  while  48*  1  ^per  cent,  were  imprisoned  for
wandering  about  without  shelter.  Of  the  women  78*1  per  cent,  were
sentenced  for  professional  prostitution,  17*4  per  cent,  for  homelessness,  and
4*5  per  cent,  for  begging.  No  fewer  than  73*3  per  cent,  of  the  men  and
68  per  cent,  of  the  women  had  been  punished  before.  It  may  be  noted,  also,
that  on  an  average  2,500  persons  enter  the  municipal  and  philanthropic  shelters
for  the  homeless  every  day  in  the  year.
The  city  enjoys  admirable  means  of  communication  both  within  the
municipal  area  and  between  this  area  and  the  suburbs.  The  electric  tramways
are  almost  entirely  in  private  hands,  but  the  powers  of  control  exercised  by  the
municipality  secure  the  utmost  consideration  for  the  community,  which  is  shown
by  an  abundance  of  travelling  facilities  and  very  low  fares.  The  State  Metropolitan ­
  and  Suburban  Railways  (Stadt-  und  Bingbahn)  maintain  a  constant  and
expeditious  service  of  trains,  and  when  the  contemplated  scheme  of  electrification
A  2

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