BERLIN.
19
The building regulations of 1853 accepted things much as they were ; they
introduced no restrictions as to the proportion of a building site which should
be left open, and they left the water and closet arrangements very defective.
The next important revision of the by-laws was that of January 23,1887, and the
main provisions of that date have continued to the present day. Midway between
1853 and 1887 occurred the most baneful period of speculation which the real estate
market of Berlin has ever experienced. It immediately followed the establishment
of the Empire, and was stimulated not only by the feverish activity
which at once marked the commercial and industrial life of the capital, but also
by the flooding of the money market by the French indemnity. The building
regulations of the time were not stringent enough to check the excesses of the
house speculators, who built wherever land could be bought most cheaply and
were indifferent as to the means by which their handsome profits were obtained.
This period saw a wide development of the courtyard system of building, but
it was a development on unhealthy lines. As the by-laws did not specially
determine the maximum proportion of a plot which might be covered with
buildings, the courtyard was unduly restricted. Again, though there were
basement dwellings (Kellerwohnungen) before, they multiplied during this
period, with results from which Berlin suffers to the present day. Yet there
were improvements as well. For example, while formerly the closets were
largely found in the courtyards, they were now more frequently placed on the
stairs within the .house. The by-laws of 1887 were specially important, since
they systematically prescribed how a building plot should be used—how much
of it might be built upon, how much must be left free ; they marked, in fact,
the beginning of the Berlin Corporation’s serious crusade on behalf of free light
and air for the dwellings of the working class. Restrictions were also imposed
as to basement dwellings.
The alterations introduced into the existing by-laws, which date from
August 15, 1897, refer chiefly to the height of the back houses in relation to
the courtyards. Speaking generally, it may be said that the worst dwellings
fall to the period before 1880 ; since then the standard has generally improved,
and this applies as much to convenience of structure as to sanitary conditions.
The great blot upon the housing arrangements of Berlin is the " barrack n
system of building, coupled with—and indeed under present conditions
implying—small and ill ventilated courtyards to which the sun is at best but
a fleeting visitor. This system is seen at its worst when one back building is
followed by another and then by another, divided only by a similar courtyard of
even smaller proportions.
It will be convenient here to refer to the principal requirements of the
building by-laws, for in every town these by-laws serve as a test by which to
judge the existing housing conditions, tinder the code of 1897 the regulations
as to the proportion of a building site which may be built upon are uniform in
the case of all plots not exceeding 32 metres (105 feet) in depth, whether the
land has been built on before or not. Where this depth is exceeded a distinction
is made between building plots situated within the former walls and those
outside this area. In other words, greater density of building and thus of
population is allowed in the old town. In determining the amount of a given site
which may be built upon, Berlin departs from the usual German plan of fixing
a definite proportion of the total surface. Here the plot is divided on the plan
into two or three strips according to its area, of which the first, having a depth
of 6 metres (19J feet) from the street building line, may be entirely covered
with buildings, but the second only to the extent of seven-tenths ; where the
plot is deeper than 32 metres (105 feet) five-tenths or six-tenths of the
remainder may as a rule be built on, according as the plot is outside or within
the old town area. The areas of these proportions are then added together
and they form the total surface which may be covered, but the actual location
of the required open space is not fixed by the by-laws.
As to light and ventilation, it is required that all rooms not lying on the
street front and intended for permanent habitation must have direct communication
with a chief court, the minimum area of which must be 80 square
metres (96 square yards), with a distance of at least 6 metres (19J- feet) from
wall to wall. Where, however, the area to be left open, as reckoned according
