TIMERIDEBlog
1 room, no kitchen, no bathroom - housing shortage in the Golden 20s
Damp rooms, mold on the walls, and rising rents – Sounds like Cologne 2024? Fiddlesticks, the same problem already existed in the supposedly golden twenties. The hyperinflation, which was many times more dramatic than the current inflation, had caused great social distresscaused. Dhe global economic crisis of 1929 was ultimately to still do the rest. Affordable housing in the big cities was scarce and the conditions in which people lived were often catastrophic.
from Julia Vreden on 05.03.2024
Of sleepwalkers and dry dwellers
The housing shortage at the time was so great that a family of twelve had to live together in just under 30 square meters. Zero privacy. For comparison: the demand for living space per capita has more than quadrupled since the 1920s!
As if that wasn’t enough, these rooms were often poorly ventilated basements without windows or damp apartments that were newly built and first had to be “dry acclimatized”. They were rented out to needy families for a very low rent. Lung diseases were pre-programmed here. If you didn’t have enough money for that either, you could still stay as a dormitory guest with people who rented out their beds during the day.
Despite all the misery, the issue of tenant protection already played a certain role. In 1925, the Mieterschutz-Verein Köln e.V. founded a housing and building cooperative to build decent, bright social housing – following the example of the Viennese municipal housing. The need for social housing could hardly be met, similar to today.
So things have changed in terms of living conditions after all – and yet we can still feel many of the things that moved the people of Cologne a hundred years ago today.
Julia Vreden
Studied early modern history in her Master’s degreeand numerous guided tours of various exhibitions, whereout her penchant for stories about people and their everyday life was created. She would particularly like to visit 18th century Versailles. get a taste, to take a look behind thehe glittering behind the scenes behind behind the scenes.
Experience first-hand what life was like in the 1920s and immerse yourself in the adventure of time travel at TIMERIDECologne. Let your historical curiosity run wild. You can find more information about one of our time travels here:
