The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-15
WHAT IT COSTS TO
LIVE In MUNICH
Housekeeping iu a Germ1u City Ex'
planned 10 netail.
SOME INTERESTING COMPARISONS
Some Figures as to Rent, Food SER
wants. Washing, Etc., in the Bavnr-
ian Capitai--The Mark as Com-
pared with the Dollar.

Philip g. Hubert, Jr., in the New hork
Evening Post.
The first thing that a man with
family has to do upon arriving IN the
German city where he has decided 10
live, is to find an apartment. Hotes
are out of the question upon the score
of expense, and even II money rs no
object. a good boardinE-house Is To De
preferred to a hotel if one wishes 20
learn anything of the language. An
American might live in Dresden or
Berlin hotel for ten years Withou'
learning enough German to get along
with in the SHOPS; in hoarding-ho
he will be sure to hear German at
every meal. and will begin almost un-
consciously To absorb il. But for per.
sons of moderate means and family
even boarding houses are expensive.
I should say that the prices of board
i'm good Berlin pensions are nearly
,aual to New York prices for similar
accommodations In Dresden prices are
lower, and i'm Munich fair board may be
had i'm pleasant quarters for about q
dollar day per person, or perhaps
little less. For comfort and economy,
however an apartment in which fam
lily may keep house is necessary. and
the day after | got to Munich | started
out to find what | felt sure must be
waiting for mean apartment or five
or six rooms. comfortably furnished.
and at a moderate rental
HOUSE HUNTING.
After a days hard work J was by
no means so sure of it. To begin with,
the porter Of the excellent hotel at
I'll, it,fn tnnn hal
there were no such things as good fur
nishcd apartments in Munich; respect
able Americans like ourselves. he told
me, always lived at respectable hotels
like the one we were in. and where my
bill. by the way, for four adults, one
small child and maid, was twelve
dollars a day. | sailed forth, never
thelcss, and notwithstanding my linn
tied knowledge of German, managed
to find out that there was some truth
in what the man said; that is to say,
no one seemed to make a business of
furnishing apartments for renting.
walked for miles through the best
quarters of the town. inspecting the
plaCards on the doors. Not one fur
nished apartment did l find. Every
house seemed to have single rooms
were plenty of unfurnished apartments
Finally, after days hard and wasted
work, l did what all Americans in
quest of anything ought to begin by
doing, / called on our consul for help
Our excellent consul, since then dis
placed under the psrnicioas system
that turns a consul our as soon as hC
knows enough of country and city
n nf a
l. Corning, who took me to the office
of a house agent and explained wha
] wanted. He also suggested that
short advertisement in the leadns
newspaper might save time anC
trouble. The agent gave me the ad
dresses of a dozen furnished flats
and ! put a demand for what | want
ed into the Neueste Nachrichten, Mu
nich's best and practically only news
paper l also discovered not only tina
furnished flats were to be had. bu
that / could rent an unfurnished fla
and have it furnished with eVerythin,
requisite for housekeeping, paying 81
much month for the use of the fur
nture. There are two large firms il
Munich. one in Dresden, and severa
in Berlin that rent furniture in thi
way and supply even silverware, chin;
and linen.
The next day armed with a numbe
of permits from the house -agent-ther
is but one so far as l know in Munic
we tramDed the streets until darI
and found nothing to suit. But w
learned great deal about house hunt
ing in Germany, which may be of in
terest and value to those who think o
year in Europe as a good thing fo
the children, and sood way of say
ing money. With us in New York
tenant gives his landlord three month
notice of his intention to leave; in Ger
many the time is six months. and n
unfurnished apartment is rented fO
less than year; so that. althoug
many houses had bills on them, thes
referred to apartments that would b
vacant five or six months later, or eve
year later. 1t is not worth while I
try to find a decent apartment for les
than six months, Whenever | aske
the price of an apartment for thre
months | found that the sum name
was very little, If any, below wha
would be asked for six months. Gel
mans cannot understand people wh
want to move every three months.
ADN ERllSlNG,
After experience in apartment hun
Ing in both Munich and Dresden,
found that advertising is the quicke,
and virtually only way of finding whs
one wants, for as no one makes a res
ular business of furnishing apartmen
for rental, and the real-estate agent
almost unknown, there is no reguls
market or exchange for apartment
But in every large city there are pc,
pie who for one reason or another wal
to get away and have apartments
their hands. a short advertisemel
setting forth exactly what you nee
the number of rooms, quarter of Il
city, and length of time required,
pretty sure to bring scores of answer
Have the advertisement written by
German, and the answers with Il
price demanded, sent 10 the newspap
office. It. any strange turn or EXPIRE
sion betrays the foreigner, the 'pri