German Model Houses for Workmen 
it is only fair to listen to what a competent critic 
of architecture says on the subject.f Mr. Paul 
Schultze-Naumburg, alter 
deploring the anarchy in 
art, says: “Why is it that 
our workmen’s houses 
should look like palaces, 
our palaces like Swiss cot¬ 
tages, our peasants’ (farm) 
houses like prisons, our 
prisons like churches, and- 
the churches like railway 
depots V’ 
And he continues: 
“ When one hears the words 
Arheiter-Hauser one invol¬ 
untarily thinks of sad 
places, with long streets ol 
monotonous, coarse brick- 
buildings, with barrack¬ 
like windows. Such a 
workmen’s ‘colony’ is no 
a b o d e of enjoyment. 
Nobody would think ot 
taking a walk through it 
for the purpose of recre¬ 
ation. A good man feels 
no contempt for these 
places and their inhabi¬ 
tants, but only pity for all 
those individuals whose lot 
is so sad. And he will 
yield to the belief that it 
will only then be possible to present a more agree¬ 
able picture to the working people, when the means 
of the whole human race have so increased that 
they will suffice even for the lowest. For the pres¬ 
ent, however, it is their duty to submit to their 
fate * 
Must this really 
be.?” 
Mr. Schultze- 
Naumburgdoes 
not claim to he 
able to solve the 
social question, 
but he says : 
“This I know, 
however, that 
the prison-like 
appearance of 
someof our 
A rb e iter-Kol- 
0 men i s j u s t 
as little the 
t Paul Schultze-Naum- 
I'urfj, “ Kulturarbei- 
ter ; ' Band 3; Dorfer 
und Kolonien: George 
D. W. Callwey, Kunst- 
wart-Verlag, Munich, 
Germany. 
consequence of the small means at disposal as the 
false display of our cities is a necessary result of 
the wealth which is there 
being concentrated.” 
This writer thinks that 
so long as the workman 
lives in the city, it is hardly 
possible to help him. He 
then goes on to say: “So 
long as we continue to 
create this homicidal-type 
of great city—so long as 
we make greater and 
greater efforts to crowd 
human beings into cells 
like those of a hee-hive, 
between tower-high walls, 
the lot of the workman 
must be most wretched in 
these gigantic stone dens. 
\ he lot of the wealthy 
who choose their dwellings 
amid these heaps of stones 
and bricks, does not essen¬ 
tially differ, but only varies 
in degree. ” 
Mr. Sch u 1 tze-Naum b urg 
is of opinion that the only 
method is to build cot¬ 
tages out in the open, 
either singly or in “colo¬ 
nies.” Much has been 
done by the employers and 
also by the employed to realize this ideal. The 
“model” workman’s dwelling should not be some¬ 
thing radically new in form, but should rather be 
constructed after the type of the small country house, 
similar to, but not an exact copy of, the farmhouse. 
"Fhe task is 
to construct 
wholesome and 
useful rooms; 
with small gar¬ 
dens to the 
houses. The 
(lerman farm¬ 
house is regard¬ 
ed as a satis¬ 
factory type 
naturally with 
some necessary 
additions and 
alterations. 
F he a i r o f 
cheer full! ess 
and comfort of 
this t y p e o f 
house will nat¬ 
urally have an 
BOATHOUSE OF THE SPINDLERSFELD 
ROWING-CLUB 
PARK AND LAKE AT SPINDLERSFELD 
231 
