Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-09-24
GERMANY FACES
HOUSING PROBLEM
Reforms Include Municipal
Campaigns.
CHECK APARTMENT HOUSES.
Country's Measures Include New DOM
icile Laws, a Campaign Against High
Rents and Residence Famines and
Building of Workmen's Dwellings.

Rents and Residence Famines and
Building of Workmen's Dwellings.
Germany has vigorously taken in
hand her great housing problem. 1t is
Il troublesome task. Bad housing. says
Count P~osadowsky, former minister of
the interior. is the reaso why the ma
tiOnal birth rate has fallen from AZ to
% per 1000 in the last forty years.
The absence of imperial housing legis-
lation is one source of the evil
Other social problems have been
beneficially regulated by the bundles
"ath and reichstag. but housing has
been left to the state legislatures, and
these have done very little. Their neg
lect has caused friction. A year ago
DR.. Delbruck. who now holds Posa-
dowsky's portfolio, threatened that if
Prussia did not improve her housing
the empire would intervene. This
threat made the reformers hurry up.
The Prussian and other state govern
ments set to preparing bills, and pri-
vate organizations and individuals be-
gan to compete with them in proposing
plans of betterment.
Mainly the reformers are fighting the
specific evils which spring from a
brand new urban civilization. Every
fifth German lives in a town of owe
100000 population. Housing on the
land is fairly satisfactory, but in the
great cities it is worse than in Ameri-
ca, England. Belgium. Holland and in
some respects France.
Germany's broad, straight streets
and imposing facades, which arouse
foreign admiration. are rich sources
Of evil. for they have brought terrifi-
cally high rents, unhygienic construc-
ton and u~neXampled overcrowding.
This is the fault Of the town planners.
who copied the concentrated building
system of Paris and Vienna. 4 system
devised for medieval fortified towns
and useless for Berlin. which has no
Notifications.
BY planning broad streets and deep
blocks the town planners compelled the
construction Of five stored apartment
houses instead of the dispersed One
family houses of America, England.
Holland and Belgium. The so called
FLAT barracks" dominate. The aver
age Berlin house shelters eighty-two
persons rs against seven persons per
house in London and Antwerp.
On h%ygienic. social. moral and eco
nomic grounds the big apartment
house system is universally condemn
ed. The apartment houses are Il
healthy, being excessively hot in sum-
mer, thus conditioning high infant
mortality. Half the apartments look
on to %airless, lightless c%ourtyards. The
working class apartment houses have
no elevators. The bad results are
proved by the fact that the mortality
of women and of sufferers from heart
disease increases with each floor. The
apartment house prevents the owner
ship of Il home. turns people into
nomads. produces overcrowding and
makes for higher rents.
Germany now will take radical meas
ures against these evils. Her methods
are three-tirstly. new housing laws;
secondly. Il campaign by the munich
palities against high rents and housing
famines: thirdly. the building Of work.
mems dwellings out of public funds.
\ powerful influence for the i'm
provement of German housing is being
exercised by the state social insurance
system. The insurance organizations
have become capitaliZers Of the move
ment for providing working class dwell.
ingS.
In Hanover 1900 workmen'S houses
have. been provided. the homes of
about 100000 persons. Berlin's second
mayor. Burgomaster Reicke. ldvo-
Gates Il plan Of housing Rer!in'S popu-
lation out of insurance bureau accumu-
lations. He stands for building out
side the city a vast settlement of model
working class houses. With him is an
other housing reformer. Professor f.
~Iranc!le. the general secretary ;f i!'
Society For Social Reform. Al, those