The weekly Arizona miner., 1873-05-10
LIVING IN GERMANY.
What It Costs.

ro ,ho question, often asked, How much v.. .t cost family Co live in Germany " it i.uot easy Co give a definite answer. The .tantarl ot living yaric. go much that it ls l obviously impossible C. sItpiy exactly each 1. ql,,,iou,r without being acquainted with his ! -pcciai requirements. In regard Co living m Germany. however, i, is less difficult to make . such au approximate general calculation oi if- cost as may be satisfactory tO most in- uurrrs tban in the United States There is in our country a vague and notwithstanding notion of responsibility which, with lts more or less influence on the modes of living, gives an endless variety to its expenses. Some American families dccm it falal to their so- cial standing to live in house less than three storie, high some are ashamed to en- ter a door that does not open from a brown stone or marble front and others refuse to look out of a window which is not darkened by opposing summits of the Mausard roofs of Madison Or Fifth avenue. Our people spend far less money for living well than for ap- bearing Co live grandly. They pay enormously for redundant ornament, spaCiOusness, unnec- cssary piles of stone and marble, fashionable conspicuousness of position, and opportunity Uf showing off their means of doing so
 The peryerse idea of responsibility, which Is the source of much of the wasteful ex- penditure of families in the United States, is comparatively rare in Germany. The Ger mans, for the most part, especially in such centers of refined culture as Heidelberg, though by no means insensible to the graces as well as the comforts of living, adapt it's appliance to their own assured sense CT need and not to the uncertain opinion of neigh bors and strangers.
 If the American fixing his residence in German town follows the example of the natives, he will choose a domcie adapted 10 the size of bis family and it's necessities If he should, without requiring its space, take big house merely because of its bigness, as he might have done in his own land of ex- pansiye ideas, he would be stared and laughed at, very much as the child who walks about with his little head lost in the capacious hat Of man. The German, in tho choice Of his house, as regards size, structure, and all its appurienances, is guided by his own taste and convenience, from which he is seldom di- verted by selhsh caprice or any indefinite no- ton of responsibility. We would advise all Americans to do likewise, if they desire fully to appreciate the advantages of living in Germany.
 Supposing that our cOuntrymen shall adopt the judicious taste and prudence of the Ger man in his unostentatious but substantial mode of living, it will not be difficult ;o answer with tOlerabe precision the question, What will it cost a family to live in Ger many W In Heidelberg few of the professors and professional men, and they may be re- garded in that university town as the leaders of its society, spend over $2, 900 year; and that this is sufficient for comfort and even a certain luxury of life, may be inferred from the cost of rent food and education, already stated. An American, living with his wife and three children of the ages of fourteen, nine, and six years, informed us that the sum of S2,0UO year was ample for all the ex- penses of his household, which seemed to us a model of tasteful comfort In New York. l where he lived previously, be could barely satisfy the requirements of himself and his family for six thousand dollars per annum He had the good sense so far to comply with the German habits as to make no sacrifices for mere show. He lived, indeed, in the l finest quarter of the city, sent bis children to the best schools and kept a daily table at | which he was always prepared to entertain a | friend generously His apartments, how ever, were not on the bei etage, as the second | story is called, but on the third, which only | differed in name and height of position from i that below it. His wife did, perhaps, more | than the usual share of household duty, but | declared that with her single servant in | Heidelberg she was more eiiectually aided | than by her three 'helps" in New York. The | whole establishment being on one floor rend- | cred the household service far less arduous ! than in the tall, tower-like houses of the | United States, with their endless winding of | staircase. Servants wages are hardly the l fourth of those with us. Three dollars | month IS considered liberal, and the service l Is good. Accustomed to hard labor, and | singularly robust strength, the women in |. Germany do more work with loss complaint | than any where in the world. They are. l moreover, constant and faithful, seldom leav. ing their places for mere caprice or love of change. Economy, too, and c0ntentment with simplicity of living are characteristic of them. All service required by the house. hold IS exceedingly cheap. A char woman is paid only tbirty-seven and half cents day, and porter can be found at any time to carry parcel or trunk for six or ten cents
 The usual social entertainments are of the simplest and least expensive character Charming reunions, where the most cheerful and intellectual of groups gather for mutual entertainment and culture, seldom cost the host or hostess more tban few klLchen and extra cups of coffee. The concerts and thea ters, which are excellent, abound everywhere, and the prices of admission are exceedingly low These public as well as private enter talnments have in common the good feature of opening and closing at early hours. They ordinarily begin at six and terminate at nine o'clock. Thus fatigue is saved to those who go, and wcarness 10 those who wait at hone. Amusement seldom leads, as too often with us, to dissipation and disorder.-[ HGrpeT's Bazar.
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