INE 
 
 JA 
 
 183 
 
 H3 
 1915 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FINE ARTS LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924101884025 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 101 884 025 
 
 THE PROBLEM 
 
 OF 
 
 CITY BEAUTIFICATION 
 
 AS OBSERVED IN EUROPE 
 
 By GEORGE T. HAMMOND, LL^., M. A. Soc C E. 
 Btoofclyn, N. Y. 
 
 [Reprinted from the Twentieth Annual Keport of the American Scenic 
 and Historic Preservation Society] 
 
 ALBANY 
 
 J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS 
 
 1916 
 
f(/VE 
 
 HA 
 1^15 
 
THE PROBLEM OF CITY BEAUTIFICATION. 
 AS OBSERVED IN EUROPE 
 
 By GKORGE T. HAMMOND, LL. B., M. A. Soc. C. E. 
 
 mTRODUCTOEY NOTE 
 
 The writer of the following article was sent abroad for the pur- 
 pose of investigating for the City in whose employ he has been 
 for more than twenty years, some of the municipal house- 
 .keeping problems that have been solved with notable success in 
 Europe, and particularly in Germany. The observations which 
 follow are intended to be of a general rather than technical nature, 
 and especially concern city planning and beautification as observed 
 abroad, and the means whereby the people of a city may secure a 
 beautiful environment, if they follow a definite purpose and take 
 advantage of their opportunities, anticipating the future and pro- 
 viding for their progress. 
 
 The trip was made in the spring and summer of a year pre*- 
 vious to the present European war, and included the British 
 Islands and the Continent, all the principal cities being visited. 
 Letters of introduction taken to the various officials were scarcely 
 necessary, as an American is welcome in all places; and a civil 
 engineer from this country especially is treated with distinction. 
 
 The note book and camera were in constant use. More than six 
 hundred pictures of technical value were secured, and descriptions 
 of structures and materials, as well as plans, often supplemented 
 by notes kindly suggested or even added by officials, who freely 
 gave printed specifications, prints of plans, books and pictures for 
 the purposes sought. 
 
 The trip was made in company with a civil engineer official 
 and a well-known consulting engineer in private practice, whom 
 we found to be as well-known abroad and as highly respected as 
 in America, 
 
 [3] 
 
4 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 Interest in our country and our great City was everywhere 
 shown. In Germany, our people seemed to he very highly re- 
 garded, and our institutions viewed with much interest. We were 
 often astonished by the knowledge shown regarding American 
 affairs. 
 
 Geoege T. Hammond, 
 215 Montague Street, 
 
 Brooklyn, N. T. 
 
 ■^7 
 
CITY BEATJTIFICATION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 QENEEAL COMPAKISONS. 
 
 Tlie pre-eminent problem of American social life is the City. 
 Indeed, it may be said that as a factor of modem life the City 
 and its needs are everywhere the problem of the age. The growth 
 of American cities has been phenomenal. But few of them more 
 than a century old, they rival in population and wealth the cities 
 of the Old World with many centuries of history. 
 
 Although the Old World cities have made their greatest progress 
 in wealth and population within the last century, and particularly 
 within the last fifty years, ages of history and discipline prepared 
 them to solve their modern municipal problems. Their municipal 
 consciousness and economic systems have been ages in the forma- 
 tion. Moreover, nearly all of them possess valuable property in 
 the form of real estate, including parks and public buildings of 
 inestimable value and historic interest, which they have been many 
 years acquiring. 
 
 The social distribution of the people into ranks; the form of 
 education and military training, which, except in England, every- 
 where prevails ; the wonderful progress in technical education and 
 the arts and sciences in Germany, and the capacity of the German 
 mind for profound study, as well as the habit of reliance on 
 respected social leaders and teachers ; the broad-minded attitude of 
 the wealthy classes, who control the expenditure of money and 
 form the councils of the cities and the ruling class in the State, 
 are some of the factors that have greatly facilitated city beauti- 
 fication. 
 
 The problem of city planning and beautification is largely eco- 
 nomic and depends upon the attitude of the citizens who have 
 money to spend for improvements. In our country, industry and 
 commerce determine the site as well as the character of the City, 
 and what was a veritable wilderness in a few years becomes the 
 center of a large population, possibly a metropolis, with its people 
 gathered from every quarter of the earth. 
 
 The land speculator has been more active than the city planner, 
 and the problems of city beautification are difficult. Without 
 
6 CITY BEATJTIFICATION IN EITEOPE. 
 
 means other than are obtainable from direct taxation and a very 
 limited borrowing capacity, and almost every kind of public utility 
 needed, it is not remarkable that our cities have not progressed 
 very faj- along the lines of beautification. Moreover, our cities 
 are in a continual state of fluxation. Commercial development, 
 vsrhich with us can scarcely be forecasted under our existing forms 
 of municipal government, renders the best devised city plan almost 
 futile, and our future progress depends upon an increase of local 
 power to do things with our own money and property without State 
 interference. 
 
 We have not been able to control the business development of 
 private property, and our cities cannot acquire extensive unde- 
 veloped tracts of real estate, as is quite ordinarily done by the 
 municipality in Germany, and thus control city development ; nor 
 can we enter upon the many municipal business ventures that are 
 carried on successfully in that country. In times of depression, 
 we cannot usually expend money upon needed public work for the 
 assistance of our laboring community, and, by means of these 
 • methods of promoting the common interests of all classes, make 
 our City in the same degree useful to our people, as the German 
 city is to its people. 
 
 The cities of Europe have much to show us that is instructive, 
 nothing more so than the lesson we may learn from them that city 
 planning and beautification may be carried out as a settled policy, 
 a little at a time, under the control of a carefully studied plan, 
 which is continually being developed and improved as the years 
 pass. The plan is usually along such broad lines, and based upon 
 such principles of possible variation, that it grows with the growth 
 of the City, being always well in advance. Every change made 
 in street or structures must comply with the plan; thus slowly 
 but surely the City becomes well planned and beautiful. The 
 progress of this growth is in almost direct proportion to the power 
 of the municipality to manage its local affairs without interference 
 from a state government. 
 
 In England, with but little power, and no power to condemn 
 land for public uses without a special act of Parliament; with a 
 system of taxation that is inefficient if not inequitable; with a 
 landlord and tenant system that is all in favor of the landlord. 
 
GENERAL COMPARISONS. 7 
 
 progress has been very slow in city planning and beautification ; 
 while in Germany, where each city possesses very wide and exten- 
 sive autonomous powers and may do practically anything with its 
 property that a natural person may, and much more along certain 
 lines, progress in city planning and all city projects has been very 
 rapid. The cities have splendid streets, parks and institutions of 
 all kinds, and have nearly all become very extensive land owners, 
 some of them owning in fee more than half the land that the entire 
 city covers, thus being able to control the use of real estate as 
 owners. 
 
 In France, as in England, progress has been slow mainly on 
 account of lack of local authority. It is the German cities, there- 
 fore, that can teach us the most about city planning and beautifi- 
 cation. A community that must suffer the constant interference 
 of the State in its local affairs, that is not permitted to develop 
 its own property or spend its own money as it pleases, and that 
 cannot borrow enough to make needed improvements ; that may be 
 ruled by partisanship and is subject to constant change in manage- 
 ment, can scarcely be expected to develop along the lines of a well- 
 chosen plan, or become beautiful. 
 
 Among the conditions under which a city may become successful 
 as well as beautiful, is a capacity for united action among the 
 people ; the cultivation of public opinion demanding beautiful and 
 convenient environment; and the financial ability to secure it. 
 Scarcely second to this is the need of an efficient city government, 
 with broad powers for home rule, under which the demand of the 
 people can be accomplished, if not at once, by carrying out a well 
 conceived plan for future development to which all private projects 
 shall conform. The city that has been able to secure the united 
 and harmonious effort for civic development and has the necessary 
 governmental power is almost certain to become and remain 
 beautiful. 
 
 We observe in Europe the growing, advancing modem city 
 which, like our own cities, owes its creation along modem lines 
 and its prosperity to trade, commerce, manufactures. Such a city 
 exhibits all the phenomena of enterprising growth and of civic 
 pride, and looks toward the future. Its buildings are planned to 
 house not only its merchant princes, but also its professional men 
 
CITY BEAtTTIFICATIOlT IN ETJEOPE. 
 
 and laboring classes with comfort. Its public buildings are on 
 a scale with its prosperity and pride. It lias many problems to 
 solve and employs tbe best professional talent obtainable. 
 
 Antique structures in such a city are usually but few in number, 
 probably an ancient church, a rathaus, or schloss, or the frag- 
 mentary remains of an ancient city wall. There are museums, 
 picture galleries, and monuments without number; but the rush- 
 ing, bustling present leaves but little appearance of the past, and 
 one is impressed with the newness of all things and the democracy 
 and sometimes the communistic tendencies of the people, who own 
 their public utilities and engage in all kinds of communal indus- 
 trial pursuits. 
 
 Then there is the city which no longer exhibits the enterprise 
 of advancing business and may be mentioned for comparison. 
 It is a completed city; but the tide of travel and commerce has 
 swept into other channels, possibly through the competition of 
 more active rivals. Still there is enough of the world's work left 
 for it to do in a quiet way. Almost every building is historic, 
 but possibly not in the best of repair. The greatness of a past 
 broods in melancholy spirit everywhere. The cathedral, the 
 museum, and the university all show a kinship with the -mighty 
 past and belong to history. 
 
 The streets remain as planned years ago and are well cleaned 
 and lighted, except in the daytime, when the light of the sun 
 struggles with difficulty through the boughs of great trees on most 
 of the avenues and squares. The people are peaceful and con- 
 servative in all things, looking up to leaders descended from great 
 local families. The church has much influence in local affairs, 
 so also has the university. The people seldom presume to inter- 
 fere in the government, but leave such matters to those whom they 
 consider better informed, and the paralyzing influence of a central 
 authority exerted from a distant capital is evident. As year fol- 
 lows year, the mosses of history gather, and the cobwebs of con- 
 servatism thicken. Such cities are often beautiful, reminding one 
 of the beauty of a woman once lovely in youth, still fair in middle 
 age, surrounded with all of the dignity and circumstance of a 
 successful life, but facing a future which leads no one knows 
 
10 CITY BEADTIFICATION IN BUEOPE. 
 
 II 
 
 ENGLISH CITIES 
 
 English cities at first impress the American as not unlike our 
 own before the advent of the modem " skyscrapers." The Ameri- 
 can city of Boston frequently reminds one of an English city, as 
 do Baltimore and Richmond. But this is a first impression only, 
 and one is soon brought face to face with various unfamiliar 
 factors. First of all, the principal cities have grown with immense 
 rapidity within the last century, and city planning has not kept 
 pace with the growth. The public utilities are peculiar and in 
 some points inferior to our own. The city owned utilities as a 
 rule give better service than those privately owned and make a 
 profit over and above expenses, and give general satisfaction. 
 
 Successful but rather limited effects in city beautification are 
 to be seen occasionally. In Liverpool, St. George's Hall and the 
 fine plaza upon which it fronts, with the memorials of statesmen 
 and sovereigns, may be instanced; also the wonderful system of 
 docks, which, from an engineering standpoint, are worthy to rank 
 with the most important structures in existence. Manchester pos- 
 sesses notable civic centers, with public buildings of beauty and 
 excellence ; and what the docks are to Liverpool, the ship canal is 
 to Manchester. 
 
 The general impression produced in Great Britain is the preva- 
 lence of commercialism ; but in no country does one see the monu- 
 ments for the past better preserved or more reverently cared for. 
 The impression of intense and vital nationality is gained every- 
 where. The quiet, orderly movement of the British industrial 
 world-machine, with its well-oiled journals and bearings and pon- 
 derous fly-wheels, is borne in upon one throughout the north of 
 England. Sheffield gives an added impression as of all the forges 
 of the earth gathered together for a congress. Surely, this is the 
 workshop of the world. 
 
 Birmingham shows us at least two notable municipal object les- 
 sons. The first is Mr. Chamberlain's scheme of city rebuilding 
 and beautification, — there having been previously to 1875 an area 
 in the center of the city reeking with squalor, vice and disease. 
 

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 (a) Pall Mall and Cockspur Streets, London, Eng. 
 
 Plate I. 
 
 (b) Piccadilly along Green Park, London, Eng. 
 
 Civic Beautifi cation Abroad. See page IL 
 
ENGLISH CITIES. 11 
 
 a slmn famed throughout England. Forty odd acres of land, in- 
 cluding this pest-spot, were acquired by the city while Mr. Cham- 
 berlain was Mayor, and laid out in business streets, well planned 
 and of dignified aspect. The venture paid for itself, as such ven- 
 tures usually do, and will eventually afford the city a considerable 
 surplus income. Another is the efficient waste disposal and the 
 world-famous sewage disposal plant, designed by Mr. John D. 
 Watson, by means of which the sewage waste of a million people 
 is discharged into a small stream of less volume than the purified 
 sewage, without the slightest nuisance. 
 
 Passing all too rapidly through England, neglecting the beau- 
 tiful old city of Chester, vnth its memorials of the past; barely 
 mentioning Oxford and 'Cambridge, both worthy of description; 
 and York and Durham, with their commanding cathedrals, we 
 come at once to London, the great city, in many respects the city 
 of the world. (See plate I.) 
 
 Perhaps no city ever has undergone more constant topographi- 
 cal growth and change. With all its faults and its points of un- 
 utterable ugliness, we shall scarcely see a more impressive city 
 than London, although we shall see some better planned and more 
 beautiful, and yet much has been done toward beautification. 
 
 Some of the projects for city beautification in London are not- 
 able from the practical lessons that they enforce ; and while they 
 are by no means the greatest of London's projects, are of especial 
 interest in this connection. The cutting of Shaftesbury Avenue 
 through the heart of the city is such a project, which, although of 
 enormous cost, was accomplished without expense to the city, with 
 some profit on the immediate outlay, and greatly increased income 
 from taxation. 
 
 It should be recalled that directly after the great fire in Charles 
 IPs time. Sir Christopher Wren made a new plan for the city, 
 with suggestions for changing and improving the streets ; but un- 
 fortunately this was never carried out and the congested streets 
 of old London have remained to supply a problem for humani- 
 tarians and engineers. 
 
 The congestion, the absence of light and of ventilation in the 
 houses crowded along blind alleyways and small courts are notable. 
 This condition extended over a considerable area along the river 
 
12 CITY BEATITrFICATION IIT EUEOPE. 
 
 Thames for several miles, reaching about a mile back from, lihe 
 river; much has been done to improve it already, though much 
 remains to do. One of the worst centers of this congestion was 
 known as Seven Dials, which has been successfully relieved. The 
 plan adopted was to cut a broad thoroughfare from High Holbom 
 to Charing Cross, passing through the center of the plague spot. 
 
 This improvement was secured by the city practically without 
 cost, by means of the expedient of purchasing the abutting land on 
 both sides, at its value before making the improvement; and after 
 removing all of the rookeries and buildings disposing of the land 
 when the improvement was completed for business purposes, on 
 what at once became an important avenue. 
 
 To commemorate the prime mover in this improvement, a fine 
 monument has been erected to the Earl of Shaftesbury, at the 
 widest part of the avenue which bears his name. 
 
 Another instance which we shall mention is the cutting through 
 at Kingsway — a new and very vdde avenue, beginning at High 
 Holborn and running to the Strand near St. Clement's Church. 
 An act of Parliament was necessary, and this gave the County 
 Council the right to close some twenty-four streets and alleys and 
 practically rearrange the map of London within the lines pre- 
 scribed by the act. It also gave the city right to acquire and resell 
 the land not used for the thoroughfare. The result is that the 
 entire improvement has been secured without cost to the city, the 
 increased value and greater income producing capacity of the 
 land taken, more than paying all the expense; while the increase 
 of taxation resulting from property of a much higher value makes 
 the whole project one of great profit, as well as securing a beauti- 
 ful avenue and a high-class development where previously had been 
 a congested slum. 
 
 Space does not permit more than the mention of the beautiful 
 Thames Emba nkm ent, and the fine bridges that cross the Thames. 
 The historic monuments of London are well known and justly 
 famous, as well as the beauty of the parks and gardens and the 
 well kept streets. 
 
 We cannot omit mention of Westminster Hall, with its fine new 
 statue of Oliver Cromwell placed no great distance from the 
 scene of his many parliamentary triumphs, beside the hall where 
 
ENGLISH CITIES. 13 
 
 he sat and judged the Eoyal Charles Stuart, first of the name, and 
 condemned him to death. From the tower of which Oliver's own 
 head, torn from his dead body, taken from the velvet-lined coffin 
 to dangle upon a gibbet, after this execution of the dead was 
 exhibited on a pike to the! world for years by Charles II. (See 
 plate II.) 
 
 Nearby is the famous Westminster Abbey, where may be seen 
 the marble apotheosis of heroic men of many times — a museum 
 of mortality and fame — the most impressive under the blue 
 heavens that cover the world. This structure, however, has been 
 restored and beautified with far less than a satisfactory result; 
 and although one of the finest churches in England, it is inferior 
 to a considerable number of French churches, both in size and 
 design. 
 
 The means of transfer in London are excellent. The various 
 underground railways and the ubiquitous omnibuses with two 
 stories, give universal satisfaction, both as to service and price. 
 
 The beauty of the city is marred to a considerable extent by the 
 universal prevalence of advertising matter, which gives an air of 
 all-pervading commercialism. 
 
 The judgment passed upon the city by Goldwin Smith still re- 
 mains true and is worthy of repetition : 
 
 " A beautiful city London cannot be called. In beauty it is no 
 match for Paris. The smoke which not only blackens but cor- 
 rodes, is fatal to the architecture as well as to the atmosphere. 
 Moreover, the fine buildings, which, if brought together, would 
 form a magnificent assemblage, are scattered over the immense 
 city, and some of them are ruined by their surroundings. There 
 is a fine group at Westminster, and the view from the steps under 
 the Duke of York's column across St. James' Park, is beautiful. 
 
 But even at Westminster, meanness jostles splendor 
 
 London has had no edile like Haussmann. The embankment on 
 the side of the Thames is noble in itself, but you look across from 
 it at the hideous and dirty wharves of Southwark. Nothing is 
 more charming than a fine water street, and this water street 
 might be very fine were it not marred by the projection of a huge 
 railway shed. The new Courts of Law, a magnificent, though it 
 is said inconvenient pile, instead of being placed on the embank- 
 ment or in some large open space, are choked up and lost in 
 rookeries. London, we repeat, has had no edile. Perhaps the 
 
14 CITT BEAtTTIFICATION IS^ EUEOPE. 
 
 finest view is from a steamboat on the river, embracing the 
 Houses of Parliament, Somerset House, and the Temple, with 
 St. Paul's rising above the whole." 
 
 The English city is very limited in its corporate powers, and 
 in consequence must continually apply to Parliament for acts 
 to enable it to cany out its projects for beautification and improve- 
 ment. It may not condemn land or issue bonds without special 
 permission secured in each instance. It is ruled by a Council, 
 the members of which are chosen by the electors for three years ; 
 one-third of the entire council retiring every year. A Mayor, who 
 has much dignity but very little power, is chosen by the Council. 
 All the work of the city is carried on by standing committees 
 filled by the Council, of which the Mayor is member ex officio. 
 The manager of a department is nominated by the committee 
 under which it is placed, and confirmed by the Council. All citi- 
 zens are eligible to the Council, except the clergy. Since 1907, 
 women are eligible. The management of all the city's affairs is 
 thus in the hands of the Council — local education since 1902. 
 Municipal owned utilities, such as street railways and highway 
 systems, are thus managed also. 
 
 Taxes are apportioned upon the income of property and are 
 collected from the tenant. If a house is unrented, no tax is ob- 
 tained. Unimproved property pays no tax. The system is weak 
 and inefficient and the people are struggling to improve it by new 
 laws. 
 
 The English people are quite conscious of the general lack of 
 city beautification and are alive to projects of betterment. 
 There is an active and wide-spread movement for city planning 
 and improvement. Associations and societies are working to 
 secure these ends and are found in every city, and even in small 
 villages. The iisual method is to employ experts to provide a 
 general plan, which shall be urged upon the authorities and kept 
 before the public until it, or some other equally acceptable, shall 
 be officially adopted. Thereafter, all improvements and changes 
 in the city can be directed toward the general design provided by 
 the plan. "When a new street is laid out or public building erected, 
 the effect on the ultimate arrangement can be kept in mind with 
 good result. 
 
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ENGLISH CITIES. 15 
 
 Many associations have been formed for the creation of what is 
 widely known as " Grarden Cities," a term employed by Ebenezer 
 Howard, in a book which was published in 1898. These cities, 
 or rather villages, are generally designed to provide homes for 
 wage earners and the industrial classes, with a view to providing 
 comfort, fresh air, and sanitation as well as beautiful surroundings. 
 The method employed is to acquire a considerable tract of unim- 
 proved land not too distant from the city or place of employment, 
 and develop the entire property as a park, in which well designed 
 and constructed houses are placed, each with its own yard and 
 garden. By co-operation in these ventures, homes may be pur- 
 chased or leased at sums remarkably low, the payment being ar- 
 ranged in monthly sums, usually smaller than a city rental. 
 
 Of all unsightly structures the ordinary English tenement house 
 is the ukliest we know — reeking with disease, crime and misery, 
 unsanitary and usually dilapidated. Fortunately, such structures 
 are disappearing and can never appear again. 
 
 Many of the Garden Cities have had their inception in the 
 enterprise of large employers of labor, who have discovered that 
 healthy and contented workmen are more profitable to employ than 
 those who live under unsanitary conditions and are never in the 
 best of good health, and who are forced by their surroundings to 
 look upon life as a hard and unequal struggle with failure at the 
 end. To these the name " Sunlight " is often applied. 
 
 The first city of this kind, of which there are now about fifty, 
 was created near Liverpool, and its success has made it an example, 
 followed not only in England but also in Germany. It is called 
 " Port Sunlight," and owes its construction to a great employer 
 of labor, who not only made the venture to improve the quality 
 of his labor, but tells us that he was actuated by the belief that 
 every laborer was entitled to a decent home and a fair chance tC' 
 rear a family, with opportunities for self-improvement and inno- 
 cent pleasures, and that it was the employer's duty and privilege 
 to see that his help was thus provided. 
 
 In Port Sunlight each family has a house to itself, surrounded 
 by a garden, placed on a well-kept street, in a beautifully designed 
 village. Schools, churches, clubs and lecture rooms, as well as a 
 gymnasium and other places of amusement, a college and a hos- 
 pital, make up the village. There are well designed playgrounds 
 
16 CITY BEATTTIFICATIOW ITS EUEOPB. 
 
 and a park, and all of these are managed by tlie people and the 
 agent of the firm upon which all depend for labor and income. 
 
 Port Sunlight is just across the river from Liverpool, and per- 
 haps no more interesting object lesson in city planning can be 
 found than may be observed by first taking a walk through the 
 tenemept house district of Liverpool, where the children of the 
 laboring classes play in the gutters, and the head of the family 
 spends his evenings and holidays in questionable gathering places ; 
 then visit Port Sunlight and observe the contrast brought about 
 by beautiful and comfortable surroundings, which reflect strongly 
 on the physical as well as the mental character of the people. 
 Unquestionably the growing generation in Port Sunlight vnll prove 
 in every way superior to that of the same rank or grade growing 
 up in the tenements of Liverpool. 
 
 Another of the aims of the English city planning movement is 
 the preservation and care of historic structures, of which England 
 has so many, and the erection of monuments to commemorate his- 
 toric events and persons who have served their country well. The 
 statues of the great leaders of the past century, the Prince Consort, 
 and the late beloved Queen Victoria, are in almost every city and 
 as a rule are excellent. England teaches her rising generation to 
 revere and be grateful to those who, in her heroic past, have carried 
 her to the pinnacle of glory in politics, war and science. As in 
 the past, we still have much to learn from her. 
 
 It is of great interest to observe the rapidity of the growth of 
 English cities in population since 1801. Americans seldom realize 
 that Old World cities have grown during the last century at a rate 
 as astonishing as have American cities. Truly, the modern city 
 is the creation of the nineteenth century, with its industrial in- 
 ventions that enable men to thus congregate in cities and find means 
 of subsistence from the rewards of industry and commerce. 
 
 The figures that follow are the best the writer can obtain and 
 are given to the nearest one hundred. In the case of several of 
 the cities the increase is partly due to annexation of suburbs, as 
 in the case of London. They are sufiiciently accurate to show the 
 relative groAvth, and this is the only purpose intended: 
 
ENGLISH CITIES. 17 
 
 Growth of British Cities Since 1801 
 
 (Population to nearest 100) 
 
 1801 1851 1901 
 
 London, County of 900,000 2,363,000 4,363,000 
 
 1908 
 
 Gireater London 7,537,000 
 
 1841 
 
 Glasgow. 77,400 255,600 1,150,000 
 
 Liverpool 77,600 286,500 753,000 
 
 Manchester. . . _ 75,300 303,400 650,000 
 
 1901 
 
 Birmingham. 73,600 182,900 522,000 
 
 Sheffield. . . ". 45,000 111,000 463,300 
 
 Leeds. ... 152,000 428,900 
 
 1908 
 Salford 14,500 63,800 239,000 
 
 The population of Salford is given because it is virtually a part 
 of Manchester, but has always maintained a separate existence and 
 a separate city administration. 
 
 Population of Manchester, including Salford : 
 
 1801 1841 1908 
 89,800 367,200 889,000 
 
18 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 GEKMAN CITIES 
 
 The appearance of the German city is exceedingly pleasing. 
 The railroad station, which always gives us our first impression 
 of a city, is as splendid as possible and usually fronts on a well- 
 designed square or park. The convenience as well as the safety of 
 the traveling public is well provided for ; and excellent design, in 
 mass and detail, renders the station a thing of beauty. Kegarding 
 it as the gate of the city, no necessary expense seems too great to 
 secure the best result. A station such as that at Frahkf ort-on-the- 
 Main, gives character to the city. The cost, said to have been 
 $10,000,000, was expended at a time when the city was smaller 
 in population than our city of Providence, E. I. That of Dresden 
 was scarcely less costly ; and many others might be mentioned. 
 
 The city planners have had great success in designing streets 
 and have provided almost an endless variety of effects, with broad 
 avenues radiating from parked central squares and circles for the 
 more formal parts of the design, affording focal points for fine 
 public buildings. Streets are provided that make sweeping curves, 
 with fine vistas of parked squares and buildings; ring strassen, 
 which often occupy the site of ancient city walls now removed, with 
 park plots between two boulevards, the ancient moat of the city 
 being preserved in places for water gardening effects, and sur- 
 rounded with a profusion of flowers; narrow streets also, for 
 greater quiet and retirement. Thoroughfares are designed for 
 trade and traffic, and quiet streets and squares through which trade 
 and traffic does not pass for home sites. 
 
 The German scheme seldom admits of formality in design, ex- 
 cept at the main center of a city, or in the square fronting some 
 formal building, such as the railroad station. The rectangular 
 arrangement of streets — which originated possibly from the an- 
 cient Roman camp design, in which the streets cross at right angles 
 and there is a main central avenue running each way, through the 
 center of the city, with a square at the point or intersection, such 
 as we have in Philadelphia and a number of American cities, said 
 to be "regularly laid out" is not used in Germany; but streets 
 with sweeping curves, connected by cross-streets, radiating from 
 civic centers, are the favorite design. This plan is well adapted 
 
GEEMAN CITIES. 19 
 
 to the placing of sanitary structures, and gives pleasing effects in 
 the vistas afforded, hoth in the daytime and when lighted in the 
 evening, and must he seen to he fully appreciated. 
 
 The city planning idea appears to have had its inception in the 
 needs of German cities, recognized hy practical men in charge of 
 municipal affairs, at the time when the progress of the country 
 took a great impetus from the enterprise and expansion in every 
 direction that followed the Franco-Prussian war. Hamburg had 
 been the first of them to install a sewerage system, completed in 
 the fifties under the direction of English engineers. At about the 
 same time Altona had put in the first water-filtration plant in 
 Europe outside of England, also under the direction of English 
 engineers. 
 
 Previous to 1870, almost every city was surrounded by a wall, 
 obsolete as a defense and useless, the property of the State, but 
 covering a valuable space available for city purposes. There were 
 miles of narrow and dirty streets, lined upon each side with rook- 
 eries. The population was very poorly housed, without sanitary 
 utilities for the most part, without water supply except from wells 
 usually contaminated, or derived from the rivers without filtration. 
 There were no sewers to speak of, and next to no pavements. 
 There were, however, a few fine old public buildings and churches, 
 all capable of renovation, and some squares and market spaces that 
 could be preserved in the replanned city. 
 
 When the city planning movement started, the planner found 
 himself surrounded with ruins every way he looked; and his 
 problem was to bring forth order out of a municipal confusion. 
 Along every line of municipal effort individual exertions had failed 
 to produce adequate results. It was realized that the right of the 
 individual must be subordinated to the interests and welfare of 
 the community. The people must be provided with healthful 
 homes and necessary public utilities, and since private enterprise 
 had not given satisfactory results, these must be supplied by the 
 City. In the scheme of reconstruction along scientific lines, the 
 community idea of doing things was therefore adopted. 
 
 The City charged itself with protecting the health of its people, 
 providing for their municipal and individual wants as far as pos- 
 sible. According to the German theory, every healthy laborer is 
 entitled to work in order that he may earn his living, and if this 
 
20 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IJT EUEOPE. 
 
 was not sufficiently supplied by private enterprise, tlie City lield 
 itself charged with providing it by conununity owned factories, 
 public utilities, forests, and public works of almost every kind. 
 
 Through the pursuance of this policy, the new German city has 
 grown to be what we now see it, with beautiful streets and build- 
 ings, both public and private dwellings appropriate for every class, 
 supplied in all cases with a:bundant light and air, with frequent 
 open spaces beautified with lawns, trees and flowers. AU rookeries 
 that might hide vice or disease have gone. In short, the City haa 
 become a community home, maintained to serve the well-being of 
 the community along every possible line of activity. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that there have been many generations 
 of racial development behind the German city as we behold it. 
 The inhabitants are practically of one blood through continual 
 intermarriage and descent, dwelling for ages within the ancient 
 city walls that now have disappeared. Their sympathy and loy- 
 alty to each other are thus quite natural. They have been trained 
 both by the State and their religious opinions to consider their 
 position and rank in the social scale as determined by divine will 
 and family ties. They look with respect and deference upon the 
 ranks above them, and with good will on those beneath their social 
 status. Socialism may have modified this inbred German charac- 
 teristic, but enough of it remains, and the discipline and education 
 are so thorough that the theory of their municipal governments Is 
 possible. It would probably not succeed elsewhere. 
 
 The idea that dominates the German city is municipal control 
 of local affairs, and the care of and furtherance of every com- 
 munity interest. While the cities in many ways have the appear- 
 ance of local autonomy, and each seems to be a little republic 
 vested with the broadest powers of self-management, this appear- 
 ance is misleading. The city is neither autonomous nor demo- 
 cratic in its form of government. State supervision exists through- 
 out Germany, usually exercised through the Department of the 
 Interior, which is charged with enforcing a standard in educa- 
 tional, sanitary, police, as well as many other matters; and the 
 care of seeing that laws relating to the public policy of the central 
 government are obeyed. 
 
 N"ew undertakings, public works and bond issues for any pur- 
 pose must receive the approval of the State. The State's function 
 
GEEMAN CITIES. 21 
 
 in these matters is administrative and confined within well recog- 
 nized limits; and does not act as a check to any desirable project 
 within the financial capacity of the city. It is widely different 
 from the continual legislative interference which our cities suffer 
 from our State governments. The State is helpful to the city in 
 Germany in very many ways, among others by the collecting of 
 information and statistics relative to all German and foreign cities 
 and their projects for mutual benefit, and employs professional 
 experts to give advice regarding the many problems that must be 
 solved. It always stands ready to give advice and encouragement. 
 
 The curious method of voting in vogue keeps the control of the 
 City in the hands of the very wealthy class; perhaps nothing in 
 the German institutions strikes the American as more strange. 
 The suffrage in Prussia is given only to males over twenty-four 
 years of age who pay an income tax. This applies to city and 
 State elections, but not to elections of representatives to the Im- 
 perial Parliament, who are chosen by manhood suffrage. Office 
 holding is open to all voters. 
 
 The following is the method of choosing officials, which is call- 
 ing forth the denunciation of the Socialist-Democratic party : The 
 aggregate sum of the income taxes is divided into three equal parts. 
 A list is prepared of all the taxpayers, beginning vdth the name 
 of the man paying the largest, and ending with the name of the 
 man paying the smallest tax. The position of a voter's name on 
 the roll is determined by the amount he pays. Beginning at the 
 top of the list, enough names are taken in order downward to em- 
 brace the first one-third of the total amount of the taxes. These 
 form the first class of voters. The second class of voters is then 
 made up by beginning at the top of the list that remains after 
 removal of the names of the first class, and taking enough names 
 to embrace the second one-third of the total amount of the taxes. 
 All who are not enumerated in these first two classes fall into the 
 third class of voters. Each class has an equal voice in the elec- 
 tion. An equal number of electors is chosen by each. After the 
 electors have been chosen for a class, they meet and choose one 
 elector. Thus the election becomes narrowed dovra to three voters, 
 one representing each tax-paying class, who meet and choose the 
 deputy to the Prussian Diet, or other official. 
 
22 CITy BEADTIFICATION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 It will be observed that the first class, made up of the very 
 rich men, represents but a small per cent of the voting taxpayers ; 
 and that the second class cannot be very much greater ; yet these 
 two classes cast a two-thirds vote for every candidate by choosing 
 two electors out of the three. 
 
 It is said that on the average in Prussia, out of the entire 
 primary voting taxpayers, three per cent are in the first class; 
 twelve per cent in the second, and eighty-five per cent in the 
 third. Thus the property held by fifteen per cent of the voters 
 enables them to govern. This is a condition that German senti- 
 ment is almost certain to change. 
 
 Income tax is the main source of revenue, both State and City. 
 The income tax for the City is added for collection to that for the 
 State. Keal estate is taxed also, but in a very complicated man- 
 ner, and returns less revenue than the income tax. All persons 
 engaged in trade are taxed upon net profit and capital invested ; 
 but there are a number of exceptions in favor of small traders. 
 Public houses and resorts also pay taxes. There are taxes on 
 property transfers, inheritance, stamp taxes, tonnage dues, a dog 
 tax that increases per dog owned, and so many other forms of 
 taxation that the mind is wearied by them ; and as this paper is 
 not upon finance, we shall say no more about them. 
 
 It must be remarked, however, that the City revenue comes very 
 largely from the communal business and enterprises owned by the 
 City, operated for public benefit and profit. German cities do 
 not merely operate the unprofitable utilities, such as sewers, streets, 
 parks and hospitals, giving over the profitable ones to private 
 enterprise; but they take the profitable and the unprofitable to- 
 gether, in order that one may offset the other. Water supply, gas 
 works, electric light and power, street railroads, slaughter houses, 
 docks and basins for commerce; land, of which the cities aU own 
 large tracts; houses, factories, financing industrial projects; ceme- 
 teries, and many other activities are conducted and turn in large 
 profits which reduce taxes. 
 
 The German city is governed by experts who are trained to the 
 profession. The City Council is rather a large body, elected by 
 voters of strictly limited property qualifications, and the members 
 are always the most prominent and wealthy in the City. The 
 Burgomaster is the chief official ; he is chosen by the Council for 
 
GEKMAN CITIES. 2S 
 
 a term varying from six to twelve years, and on retirement receives 
 a pension. He may be employed from any City in Germany, and 
 there is often keen competition for the services of a very capable 
 man. In Dresden, he is chosen for life. Associated with him 
 are a number of experts who constitute the magistrat. Some of 
 these are paid ; others serve free. The service of the politician is 
 carefully excluded. When there is a vacancy, the Council may 
 advertise for candidates, or request qualified persons who desire 
 to compete, to present their evidences of qualifications, experience, 
 etc. Out of those applying, or asked to compete, a selection is 
 made, the candidates coming from all parts of Germany. 
 
 The Burgomaster corresponds to the Mayor of an American 
 City, but has much less power, and his selection must be ratified 
 by the King, If he is a man of strong personality, his influence 
 may be very great ; but he cannot veto an ordinance, or employ or 
 discharge an ofiicial under his authority, except with the consent 
 of the Council and subject to review of courts to which a dis- 
 charged official may appeal. In some cities he controls the police, 
 in others, especially the larger cities, this comes under a commis- 
 sioner appointed by the State. Each branch of the government, 
 such as law, finance, accounting, engineering, education, public 
 charity, city planning, etc., is under an expert, who receives a 
 salary usually larger, cost of living considered, than is paid for 
 similar work in America. These experts form the paid portion 
 of the Magistrat, and with the Burgomaster as expert in chief, 
 and the unpaid members, form an Executive Council. The un- 
 paid members of the Magistrat are usually wealthy men of com- 
 parative leisure, who are leaders in municipal, social and indus- 
 trial life, and are highly esteemed as such. They are practically 
 chosen for life and usually constitute about half of the Magistrat 
 and usually are members of the Council. Their services are im- 
 portant as general advisers on all municipal subjects, and the 
 influence they are able to bring to bear for the support of the 
 policies of the administration is of the greatest value. Their posi- 
 tion is dignifled and highly regarded by their fellow-citizens. 
 
 Of individual German cities, Hamburg and Bremen remind us 
 of American cities. The enterprise and push that we are used to 
 seeing on this side of the ocean are seen everywhere, and in Ham- 
 burg in particular, for as one of the free cities of the German 
 
24 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUEOPE. 
 
 Empire, this in fact is a municipal republic, and even has the right 
 to coin money with its emblems stamped thereon — one of the 
 indices of sovereignty. 
 
 All American visitors have loved Hamburg for its hospitality 
 as well as for its beauty. Originally surrounded with strong walls, 
 ditches and moats, situated between a pestilential marsh and the 
 River Elbe, with narrow and winding streets and a certain medi- 
 seval charm, this City was one of the first in Germany to emerge 
 into modem life and recreate itseK. In 1811, the population is 
 given as 106,983; in 1861, it had reached 198,214; in 1885, 
 305,690 ; while in 1910, it was 855,000 — a rate of growth seldom 
 equaled by any City. It was visited in 1842 by a great fire that 
 destroyed about a fourth of the entire City, which perhaps accounts 
 for its lack of historic structures, and for its rapid modern prog- 
 ress. In rebuilding the City, a sewerage system was installed by 
 English engineers. 
 
 Among the features of the City are the beautiful lakes enclosed 
 by boulevards and parks, known as the Binnen Alster (plate 
 III) and the Aussen Alster, originally noxious marshes, which 
 have been excavated and made into beautiful sheets of water and 
 connected vidth the river. The smaller of these is about a mile in 
 circumference, bounded on three sides by quays, planted with trees 
 and flowers, and flanked with palatial hotels, business edifices, and 
 private dwellings. Along the south shore passes the Jungfemstieg, 
 150 feet wide, the center of fashion and the finest street in the City. 
 There are restaurants and cafes of pleasing design on the shore 
 front, and the surface of the water is enlivened with pleasure 
 craft and water fowl. Stately swans float by in the sunlight and 
 children play along the shore. There are several beautiful stone 
 bridges over connecting waterways. The Lombards-Briecke com- 
 mands a beautiful prospect of the Aussen- Alster, which is quite 
 a large sheet of water, several miles long, with its shores embel- 
 lished -with, parks and villas. 
 
 The Eathaus, completed in 189^, after twelve years in building, 
 is one of the most beautiful structures in Germany. There are on 
 its facade bronze statues of twenty German emperors. The tower, 
 nearly 400 feet high, is sunnounted with the Gennan eagle. In 
 the basement is a famous Ratsweinkeller, which is one of the 
 centers of social life in the City. 
 
GEEMAN CITIES. 25 
 
 The park system of the City forms a broad semi-circle partly 
 occupying the space recovered from the ancient walls and fortifi- 
 cations, crossing on necks of land and bridges between the two 
 lakes. At one end, near St. Pauli, is the splendid colossal monu- 
 ment to Bismarck, representing him as a Eoland, or knight of the 
 Middle Ages, one of the most impressive memorials in Europe. 
 
 The harbor is artificially formed by dredging miles of basin for 
 shipping. A fine tunnel passes under the river, with approaches 
 by means of elevators at either end, by which vehicular and pedesr 
 trian traffic is taken care of. The tunnel is finished inside with 
 enameled tile from the Emperor's private potteries, he having 
 been awarded the contract for this part of the work. 
 
 Another beautiful City that always appeals strongly to the 
 American is Diisseldorf. " Here surely is the beautiful city," we 
 think ; " no other in Germany can match it," as we stroll down 
 Konigs AUee, the ample parkway which runs through the centre 
 of the City. The Hofgarten at one end; at the other, removed 
 to a respectful distance, the business centre ; along both sides, fine 
 buildings of rich and harmonious effect forming a splendid flank 
 and an artistic sky line. Water-gardens and crystal pools suc- 
 ceed each other through the lawn beneath the trees. Tasteful foun- 
 tains, statuary and masses of flowering plants give added beauty. 
 It is pleasant to see the people appreciate and enjoy these things, 
 and note how careful everyone is to preserve the good order, clean- 
 liness and beauty of everything. The ornamentally treated water- 
 gardens and stream through the central part of the park are part 
 of the ancient ditches and moats about the City wall now demol- 
 ished. Bridges of artistic design span at intervals, decorated 
 with well chosen statuary. 
 
 There are cafes on one side, and the theatres, opera, museum 
 and government offices are near by. The entire parkway is under 
 the most careful inspection and control; its orderliness is carried 
 to perfection and gives somewhat of a pervading tone of formality. 
 The transportation lines make this their objective point, as the 
 civic center to which the people come, both for business and 
 amusement. 
 
 Diisseldorf is a city of about 360,000 people. In less than a 
 century it has grown from 20,000. It had scarcely 40,000 in 
 1850; more than 100,000 in 1890; and in 1900 had reached 
 
26 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUROPE. 
 
 200,000. This remarkable increase is attributed to the enterprise 
 of the City in attracting industries and commerce, and in provid- 
 ing a beautiful and convenient home for its people. 
 
 The planning of the City may be said to have begun in earnest 
 in the. late nineties, when the Council secured the services of Dr. 
 Wilhelm Marx, as Burgomaster; and during the following twelve 
 years was carried forward with large expenditure on broad lines, 
 with great success. A new City practically was created, with new 
 industries, new harbors, and new bridges. The banks of the Ehine 
 were provided with retaining walls miles in extent. Marsh lands 
 were reclaimed ; gardens, parks and playgrounds were lavishly pro- 
 vided. Eailways were lowered so as to prevent grade crossings, 
 and to preserve the beauty of the river front. Municipal building 
 operations were extensively undertaken for all purposes, including 
 a magnificent palace for use as a permanent exposition building. 
 
 The harbor, which was completed in 1902, now receives over 
 1,200,000 tons per year. It is a remarkable piece of engineering, 
 and beautiful from the engineer's standpoint, as well as useful. 
 
 A general plan was provided before the great development 
 referred to was initiated, and every part of the City conforms to 
 this plan, which covers undeveloped suburban land not to be im- 
 proved for many years. On this plan, every existing and future 
 street is shown with all of the projected utilities, widths and 
 grades of the streets, as well as the purposes for which the land 
 may be developed, location of parks, playgrounds and public build- 
 ings. No one is permitted to make any improvement that does 
 not conform to this plan. 
 
 The locations intended for schools and public buildings are 
 acquired far in advance. The City is a large speculator in real 
 estate, of which it has some 2,800 acres; it also loans money on 
 bond and mortgage for real estate development to encourage home 
 building. 
 
 Sections are set aside for factory sites and for laborers' cottages ; 
 other sections for the homes of persons of rank "and wealth. The 
 height of the building is strictly controlled, as well as anything 
 in the design that might injuriously affect the value of property 
 or the beauty of neighboring buildings. The width of the street 
 determines the height limit of all buildings. 
 
GEKMAN CITIES. 27 
 
 Houses must be so placed that ample spaces shall remaiu for 
 .gardens, and the City oversees, or even does the gardening in front 
 of the houses, so as to ensure a beautiful street effect. The con- 
 trolling hand of the City is seen everywhere ; and the private inter- 
 est of individual ovrners is subordinated to the community interest, 
 so that there shall be orderliness, safety, sanitation, and beautiful 
 effect 
 
 The general plan of the City provides broad thoroughfares radi- 
 ating from the civic center, not unlike the ribs of a fan. These 
 parkways are plentifully provided with fine trees, gardens and 
 flowers, and cosy seats for pedestrians. The grass plots and 
 lawns are carried over the road beds of the tramcar tracks, and 
 are cared for as carefully as the parks, along either side of which 
 they pass, \mder the spreading boughs of the trees. The noise is 
 thus deadened, and dirt prevented. Well paved traffic roads are 
 placed along the right side of one track, and the left side of the 
 other, and along these are the sidewalks, which are broad and per- 
 fect as to pavement. These streets are two hundred feet wide for 
 a considerable distance from the civic centre, after which the width 
 is reduced. 
 
 Along these broad streets one passes to an encircling street or 
 " Ring Strasse," which is a fine boulevard. A magnificent natural 
 woodland park is reached by one of these streets, in which nature 
 is left to her own design, the purpose being to give the effect of a 
 natural forest, in which picnickers may enjoy to a limited extent 
 the call of the wild. 
 
 A great deal might be written about the numerous public enter- 
 prises in which the City engages. The street railways are owned 
 and operated with remarkably good results ; so also all other public 
 utilities. The City owned theatre is a great success, and is prac- 
 tically a part of the educational system, as it provides the highest 
 grade drama and opera, and sells cheap tickets available to the 
 poorer classes. It ovms also a fine Tonhalle, where concerts are 
 given and a restaurant and wine cellar are conducted. An 
 orchestra is supported by the City, second to none in Germany. 
 There are libraries, reading rooms, lectures, hospitals, schools of 
 all kinds, a fine picture gallery, this City being an important art 
 centre and possessing a well known art school. 
 
28 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUEOPE, 
 
 It is gravely asserted, and we believe with tnitli, by the learned 
 German professors, that mankind should talce regular hours of 
 play ; recreation they urge as a duty imposed on the citizen ; and 
 accordingly playgrounds are provided for all. 
 
 The impression one gets from spending a few days in this City 
 is certainly very pleasant. Everyone seems happy and contented. 
 There is a noticeable spirit of good nature and good health and, 
 if possible, more than the usual heajty German welcome extended 
 to the American stranger. Excellent English is spoken very gen- 
 erally, especially by the school children, as is usual in all the 
 large cities in Germany. Possibly there is some hypnotic influ- 
 ence present in the happy and kindly faces one constantly meets, 
 in which may be plainly read, " Welcome to our beautiful city " 
 — and surely one cannot disagi-ee with them. Theirs is a beauti- 
 ful city, and perhaps their faith in its beauty adds a great deal 
 to the impression.. 
 
 One important lesson at least we gather from Diisseldorf. Here 
 was a rather small and far from rich City, without beauty or even 
 comfort, that one day determined to recreate itself. To this task, 
 which in America we should think so great, the little City gave 
 its best thought and united effort. Conscious that city-building 
 is a science beyond the ordinary burger, they sought through Ger- 
 many for the man to whom they could confidently entrust the 
 ordering of the task, and fortunately secured Dr. Wilhelm Marx, 
 from among a number of competitors who offered their services. 
 
 We now behold their success. By means of their efforts it 
 would appear that they have created a rich and populous City, one 
 of the show-places of Europe ; and they are all happier, healthier 
 and richer than before they embarked on the great project; and 
 the future offers the richest promise of greatness far beyond their 
 dreams. Z'\ 
 
 The impression formed on visiting the larger German cities, 
 such as Diisseldorf, Hamburg, and Berlin, is of the newness of 
 everything — new buildings, new streets, splendid railroad sta- 
 tions, and a tremendous traffic. One is at once reminded of the 
 spirit and enterprise of our western cities. There is very seldom 
 anything to suggest the past except some memorial. Where an- 
 cient buildings have escaped Germany's many wars, they are care- 
 fully preserved and converted to municipal use, as museums. 
 
(a) Wilhelm-strasse, Berlin. 
 
 Plate IV. 
 
 (b) Elevated railroad along canal, Berlin. 
 
 Civic Beautipication Abroad. See page 29. 
 
GEEMAN CITIES. , 29 
 
 But usually the City of to-day found very little of note to preserve. 
 For tlie most part, these cities are constructed on lands lying out- 
 side of the ancient city walls, which have now disappeared. 
 Where walls once stood, there are parkways, ring strassen, devel- 
 oped into great beauty. 
 
 Berlin, the largest City of Germany, with a present population 
 inhabiting its metropolitan district of nearly four million persons, 
 of which about two-thrids are within the city limits, is one of the 
 most rapidly growing of modern cities. (See plate IV.) 
 
 At the close of the Thirty Years' War, the population is said 
 to have been about 6,000 inhabitants. In lYOO, this had passed 
 20,000. Frederick the Great found it on his accession in 1740, 
 with 90,000 ; and in 1840, at the accession of Frederick William 
 IV., it had 332,000, which in 1872 had grown to somewhat more 
 than 800,000, since which time the increase has been more than 
 four-fold. 
 
 We are told by the learned Dr. Kober of Georgetown University, 
 Washington, D. C, that in 1872 Berlin and Washington were 
 alike in primitive municipal condition. 
 
 " Without adequate distribution of water supply, the larger part 
 of their population was dependent upon public and private wells, 
 without sewerage systems, both alike supplied with makeshifts 
 for the disposal of sewage waste. Their streets were unpaved and 
 became the common receptable for garbage, ashes and house 
 sweepings; and along the gutters the surface and house drainage 
 was conducted to the neighboring water courses. 
 
 " Since Berlin began its system of sanitary improvements com- 
 pleted in 1890, at a cost of 59,000,000 marks for water supply, 
 and 42,500,000 marks for sewers, the typhoid fever death rate 
 has fallen from 143 per 100,000 in 1872, to 4 per 100,000 in 
 1894; and the general death rate, from 32.9 per 1,000 in 1875, to 
 16.4 per 1,000 in 1904; while the death rate from typhoid is 
 six times as great in Washington as in Berlin. 
 
 " In 1875, only 57 houses in Berlin were connected with sewers, 
 and the death rate was 32.9 per 1,000. In 1885, 16,000 houses 
 were connected with the sewers, and the death rate was 24.4. In 
 1904 the use of the sewers was general, and the death rate was 16.4 
 per 1,000." 
 
 These figures, while they may perhaps appear to have but little 
 bearing on city beautification, go to show how recent was the 
 
30 CITY BEATTTIFICATIOSr IN EUEOPE. 
 
 creation of the greatest German. City, and how little it owes to 
 the slow dev:elopment of centuries. 
 
 We are often told by our American brethren, that " of course 
 German cities are great and beautiful, but to make them so has 
 taken ages." " Those improvements you admire took a thousand 
 years to grow," said one of these critics. "We cannot hope to 
 make our cities vie with those of the Old World until ages have 
 passed over us." From the standpoint of historic structures, this 
 idea no doubt is true. One must grow old to have becoming gray 
 hair. 
 
 There are many cities, especially in France and Italy, that have 
 gathered beauty from age to age ; and some that have mingled their 
 jewels of the past with the municipal settings of the present; but 
 these are not the cities usually referred to in connection with city 
 beautification. The latter are nearly all strictly modern and new, 
 replanned and rebuilt within the last forty years. All street paving 
 and sanitary improvements and public utility improvements in 
 Europe are recent, designed and built by the present generation. 
 No city illustrates this better than Berlin, the modern capital of 
 Germany, and which the imperial family designs to make more 
 beautiful than Paris or Vienna. But in the splendor of the result, 
 we are conscious that something is wrong. Such a remark would 
 be impious if applied to Diisseldorf or Frankford or Cologne or 
 Munich, all of which have bloomed into modernity in less than a 
 generation. Berlin has been replanned to be superlatively splen- 
 did, to typify the Empire. Perhaps this intent is too apparent. 
 The beauty of Diisseldorf, an almost indefinable charm, upon care- 
 ful analysis, we think, arises from its success as a well planned 
 and cared for home and workshop, embellished with unpretentious 
 and appropriate decorations, nature having been largely employed, 
 in the form of tree and forest ; while the free wild forest, main- 
 tained by that City, supplies ready transition from the confinement 
 and cares of city life. 
 
 For city embellishment we require beauty that arises with spon- 
 taneity out of the useful, and crowds out the ugly, but yet is not 
 aggressive — a natural expression of psychological aspirations, 
 created to fit the needs of a community, and support, rather than 
 overburden thought and fancy. In city planning and improve- 
 ment, we cannot capture by force and enchain beauty. If our art 
 
GERMAN CITIES. 31 
 
 has not a certain freedom and humility, it jars upon the senses, 
 like discordant sounds in music. Embellishment must be made to 
 serve utility. We must create the useful along beautiful lines. 
 Even the monuments placed in our streets and parks to commemo- 
 rate national events and heroic characters, are utilities, just as are 
 schools, streets and railroads; and if not beautiful, they are de- 
 cidedly offensive. 
 
 The use of monuments to commemorate events and also to 
 beautify a City, should never run into the advertising either of 
 the artist or the event commemorated. Well placed, a simple, well 
 designed statue gives distinction : Berlin has some that are especi- 
 ally fine, along with many that we do not admire. The Luther 
 memorial is admirable and so placed that it hallows its vicinity. 
 So, also, is that of Frederick the Great in Unter den Linden, seen 
 from a distance, its elevation being too high for a near view. 
 
 There are beautiful memorials in Sieges AUee, well arranged so 
 that the heroic genius of Germany appeals strongly to patriotism ; 
 and love of history is cultivated. These monuments are truly 
 public educational utilities and should be looked upon as such. 
 But the groups of imperial and royal statuary around the royal 
 palace are, we think, more damaging to the spirit of imperial Ger- 
 many than all the tirades of the social democrats, as they seem to 
 advertise royalty. 
 
 Judged by these principles, the finest memorials in Europe are 
 those which leave the imagination of the beholder to supply more 
 than they reveal, that draw their greatness both from the great 
 event or person that they commemorate, and from their own simple 
 beauty. Among these are the Lion of Lucerne ; the Frederick the 
 Great, and the Luther denkmal, at Berlin ; the Cromwell at West- 
 minister Hall, London ; the Lafayette in the court of the Louvre 
 in Paris* (a gift from the school children of the United States 
 to the French nation) — and there are many more. 
 
 The first impression of Berlin is very good. Starting from the 
 Pariser Platz we walk through Unter den Linden to the Koyal 
 Palace, for this gives a fine idea of all that is best in the City. 
 Unter den Linden is a fine parkway, 160 feet wide, with roadways 
 
 • See plate II. 
 
32 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IIT EUBOPE. 
 
 and sidewalk on either side of the parked space through the center; 
 a fine broad walk with frequent seats, passes througk the parked 
 space, over which the limbs of the trees interlace like the vaulted 
 groining of a Gothic cathedral. 
 
 Returning to the Brandenberg Gate, and passing through, we 
 continue our walk through the Tier Garten, a fair-sized park of 
 remarkable beauty, and turning into Sieges Allee, a broad avenue 
 with fine statuary already referred to, we pass to the Konigsplatz, 
 with its monument of victory and fine view of the Bismarck monu- 
 ment, and the Eeichstag building ; then returning, we pass onward 
 to Belleview-Strasse, to Leipsiger Platz, an important civic center ; 
 thence through Leipziger Strasse, which is rich in splendid build- 
 ings, to Friedrichs Strasse, returning to Unter den Linden. The 
 busiest intersection in Berlin is said to be where these streets 
 cross. 
 
 Berlin is pre-eminently a regularly planned and scientifically 
 beautified City. As it is the capital, every effort has been made 
 to secure magnificence as well as convenience. N"o City in Europe 
 can show better pavements or cleaner or more caref uUy kept parks. 
 
 The transportation utilities are notably excellent. The City 
 plan is very good for convenience and beauty, and the buildings 
 are splendid, though in many cases over ornate. Berlin's main 
 fault lies in this, that the attempt has been made in some instances 
 to decorate the beautiful, and the City suffers in comparison with 
 Paris for this reason. 
 
 The sanitary arrangements have been given the most elaborate 
 care, and the sewage irrigation farms, which cover a greater acre- 
 age than the City, show the visitor no suggestion of their use, 
 which is to turn tlie offensive wastes of the City into valuable 
 agricultural products, instead of permitting the defilement of the 
 Eiver Spree. These sewage farms are worthy of every visitor's 
 attention, for they are really gardens of flowers and vegetables, 
 and orchards with beautiful stores of fruits ripening in the sun- 
 shine ; and there is no sign of the offensive materials which are 
 led by hidden ditches and pipes into the soil to feed the roots of 
 the plants. Unfortunately, there is not available land enough to 
 permit the extension of this system of sewage treatment; and an 
 immense filtration plant, which employs the most modern inten- 
 
BEELIN AND PAEIS COMPAEED. 33 
 
 sive English method of sewage treatment, is provided at the neigh- 
 boring village of Wilmersdorf. In future the farms -will not be 
 extended, but other plants like that of Wilmersdorf will be pro- 
 vided to take care of the growth of the City. 
 
 In common with many other German cities, Berlin has required 
 the unsightly gas-tanks to be built with masonry walls of pleasing 
 design, not unlike that of the Eoman Coliseum. 
 
 Berlin is a City of beautiful suburbs. Excellent transit facil- 
 ities make it possible to live at a considerable distance from the 
 City and yet get in and out easily in time for business. In this 
 feature, all German cities are particularly interested, and suburban 
 development is everywhere included in the city plan. The Ger- 
 man has a passion for country life, and if his circumstances render 
 it possible, will prefer to live out of town. 
 
 A curious feature of German life is the small country place, of 
 which there are a great many around Berlin. These are agricul- 
 tural lands outside of the suburbs, divided into small plots or 
 squares, most of them not more than 20 meters square. Each plot 
 is rented to a city dweller of the middle class, or the professional 
 man of small means, who builds his own house, usually with his 
 own hands, as this is considered a great pleasure in itself. These 
 structures are often portable houses, purchased ready to be erected, 
 and tents, or even more primitive shacks are used. A number of 
 members of the same family, or friends, take adjoining plots and 
 help each other. There is often much originality and even beauty 
 in these rude structures. The cost is usually within $100 (400 
 marks), and with repairs the house will last for years. During 
 the summer the family live in these odd country seats, coming 
 from their city homes as often as possible, and remaining for a 
 few days at each visit. Every member from the father down to 
 the youngest toddler gardens or farms, and the visits are always 
 frequent enough to keep the growing plants in good order. Some 
 families remain all summer. 
 
 BEELIN AWD PAEIS COMPAEED. 
 
 It is inevitable that we should compare Berlin with Paris. 
 These cities, both capitals of great nations, are very dissimilar in 
 almost every other feature. Berlin is considerably the larger in 
 
34 CITY BEAUTIFICATIOS IBT EUEOPE. 
 
 population, and the more modem in appearance, but it lacks the 
 beauty as well as the individuality of Paris. 
 
 Berlin has developed its plan along scientific lines and is ever 
 extending itself in accordance with all that is most approved in 
 city-building. Projects are under way that will cost nearly 
 $100,000,000. Paris has also planned extensive improvements, 
 including the razing of its unsightly and useless walls. Of course, 
 the present war will interfere with all these schemes for some 
 years ; but the broad vision of European cities leads them to make 
 plans and prepare years in advance for desirable improvements. 
 
 Paris is, beyond doubt, the most beautiful large City in the 
 world, but is without many of the conveniences and the provi- 
 sions for individual comfort and safety which are possessed by 
 many of the smallest German cities. . Ko other City is so elab- 
 orately planned, or has such splendid boulevards, avenues, and 
 streets; but the houses and apartments of the middle class and 
 the poor are very inferior to similar structures in Berlin and most 
 German cities. The public utilities are also far inferior. The 
 streets are not as well paved and not as clean, and the city sani- 
 tation is far less satisfactory. In Berlin, the sewage farms are 
 operated by the City's poor and dependent class, who are thus 
 given an opportunity to earn their living, and the management is 
 very eiEcient. In Paris, the land of the sewage farms is leased 
 to the highest bidder for so much per hectare, and subleased to 
 small garden-truck cultivators at a handsome profit, with the 
 result that raising vegetables is made the principal use of the 
 farm ; and when the sewage is not needed to irrigate these garden- 
 plots, it is allowed to run into the River Seine. Frequently one- 
 third of the entire flow is thus discharged causing gross pollution 
 of the river. These farms are, therefore, far less efficient than the 
 similar farms at Berlin. 
 
 The mimicipal housekeeping of Paris is in fact far inferior to 
 most German and English cities. The conception of the people 
 as to public decency is quite different from German and English 
 ideas, and is decidedly Latin, as may be observed from the un- 
 sightly, ill-kept, and malodorous public comfort conveniences for 
 males, which occur on every block and are decorated with flaring 
 advertising matter. 
 
(a) Place du Carrousel, Paris. See page 35. 
 
 Plate y. 
 
 (b) Approach to Pont Alexandre, Paris. See page 36. 
 Civic Be autifi cation Abroad. 
 
BEEI.IN And PAEIS COilPAltED. 35 
 
 The magnificent features of the City, which are world-famous 
 and costly, are only incidentally related to the life of the people. 
 The planning was not carried out for the well-being of the class 
 of citizens who work for wages, with intent to improve their 
 physical, mental, and moral condition, which is the especial aim 
 of German city planning; but to create an impression of wealth 
 and splendor surrounding the rich and powerful. 
 
 For these reasons, Paris ceased to be France, as she used to be 
 considered, when she became beautiful; and the French people, 
 with all their splendid qualities and artistic temperament, can best 
 be studied anywhere else than in Paris; while one can scarcely 
 find a better place to study the German than in Berlin. Paris 
 reveals the splendor of the republican state, and exhibits the relics 
 of the marvelous history of France, and the masterpieces of her 
 admirable art. Berlin is quite willing to be called the Paris of 
 Germany, and has tried to rival Paris. In this we think she has 
 failed; but this aim was only a secondary object, her primary 
 object being the uplifting of her citizens; and in this she has 
 succeeded. 
 
 Beautiful beyond question is Paris ; and in no other City does 
 everything seem so greatly to conspire with intent to produce a 
 fine impression on the stranger. There is something to appeal to 
 the visitor from every land. If from America, stand in the Place 
 du Carrousel, vrith the wide sweep of the wings of the Louvre 
 enclosing the place on three sides. Here, beyond the graceful arch, 
 copied after that of Serverus at Kome, once stood the Tuileries, 
 the ancient palace of the kings, where Franklin, envoy and agent 
 of the young Kepublic of the West, sued for alliance with the 
 oldest royalty of Europe, and not in vain. Of that palace not 
 one stone has been left upon another, the Commune having swept 
 it all away in the terrible year of 1871. It has passed, as has 
 royalty in France. A graceful park, with beautiful statuary, com- 
 memorates its name. (See plate V.) 
 
 A view in the other direction reveals the beautiful pavilions and 
 connecting facades of the Louvre, the finest Kenaissance building 
 in France, possibly in Europe. A grass-plot occupies the centre 
 of the court before us ; ornamental trees and shrubs heighten but 
 
36 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN ETJEOPE. 
 
 do not hide a fine equestrian statue in bronze, upon an artistically 
 designed pedestal. (See plate II.) 
 
 Who may be the presumptive rider, bronze even though he be, 
 out of the dim shades of storied history, that stops his horse here, 
 as though he sought the most kingly of all stables ? A movement 
 toward it and we behold him who was the companion of Washing- 
 ton, the beloved Lafayette; and it is no little pleasure to read: 
 
 Erected 
 
 by the 
 
 School Children 
 
 of the 
 
 United States 
 
 in 
 
 G-rateful Memory 
 
 of 
 
 LAPAYETTE 
 
 Statesman 
 
 Soldier 
 
 Patriot 
 
 If the visitor is Russian, the Pont Alexandre (plate V) arises 
 before him; and indeed, the stranger from every nation will find 
 some memorial to show that France desires to show her regard for 
 his country and bid him welcome. 
 
 Paris has been so often described and so well, that it would be 
 inexcusable to go into detail as to her many splendid streets and 
 buildings, where the hands of Louis XIV, Napoleon I and N"apo- 
 leon III, Baron Haussmann and others have left a lasting 
 impression. 
 
 Speaking in a historical sense, it is but a few years since Paris 
 was replanned and beautified. In the age of Louis XIV, she was 
 far from being a beautiful City, and up to the middle of the last 
 century her streets were narrow and dirty and poorly paved. 
 
 Indeed, but few cities on the European continent dared pave 
 their streets with stone-paving blocks, which afforded the mob a 
 too ready means of making barricades in the frequent times of 
 riot. Sanitation was unknown. The difficulties and uncertainty 
 of human life were too great a factor to permit development along 
 the lines that within the last fifty years have created the modem 
 City. 
 
GENEEAL IMPEESSIONS. 37 
 
 Napoleon I was responsible for considerable progress along the 
 lines of city planning in Paris ; but bis fall put an end to the move- 
 ment for years, until Napoleon III came into power in 1848, 
 when it was determined to replan the city. In 1853, Baron 
 Haussmann, a lawyer with artistic ideas and great business ability, 
 became Prefect de la Seine, and produced a plan for the complete 
 remodeling of the City. He gave particular attention to diagonal 
 streets, open spaces, and civic centres. Traffic consideration were 
 given the greatest importance and were not sacrificed for effects 
 of beauty. Between 1850 and 1870, it is said $250,000,000 was 
 spent, and the work bas been going forward ever since. 
 
 The ability of tbe people to secure beautiful surroundings, if 
 they take advantage of their opportunities and look ahead, is well 
 illustrated by the experience of TJbn, which, thougb a small City, 
 teaches a valuable lesson. 
 
 Ulm is an up-to-date manufacturing City with 56,000 people. 
 It is an historic place, which has been modernized and extended 
 without losing its character, and exercises a peculiar charm upon 
 visitors, inducing them to loiter for days among its ancient monu- 
 ments and vine-clad hills. Its beautiful minster, a fourteenth 
 century building, has the tallest spire in Europe. On account of 
 its ancient walls and topographic features, its housing area waa 
 greatly restricted, and as a progressive City, anticipating a rapid 
 growth, it secured 80 per cent, of the land within and adjacent 
 to its walls. 
 
 The ancient forts and walls were acquired in 1902, and the 
 opportunity then presented itself for city planning along broad 
 lines for the future. The ground around the City was greatly 
 increased in value when the inner walls became its property, but 
 the City had foreseen this and had commenced purchasing the 
 land in 1891, eleven years before it acquired the walls* 
 
 The officials recognized the possibility of obtaining the walls 
 and of replanning the City, and had foreseen that the great cost 
 of the purchase and the razing of the walls, as well as for the 
 construction of new streets and the changes contemplated within 
 the walls, would prove too great an expense unless advantage could 
 
38 CITY BEAUTIFICATION IN EUROPE. 
 
 be taken of the resulting increased value of the land outside of 
 the walls. Therefore, about 1,200 acres were purchased at nearly 
 $1,400,000. Of this, about one-third was sold later on, when the 
 improvements had been made, for $1,600,000, and two-thirds 
 remained to be disposed of at a still greater profit. The fortress, 
 purchased in addition, for about $1,000,000, covered 172 acres, 
 and $600,000 was spent in purchasing houses within the old walls 
 and in improving the sanitary conditions. The new plan provided 
 a number of fine wide streets and boulevards, greatly improved 
 housing conditions, and added much to the City's beauty. 
 
 One of the marvels of Germany is the great success with which 
 citizens co-operate in all their private and public enterprises. 
 Getting together for the common interest, regardless of partisan- 
 ship or preconceived ideas, seems peculiarly German. Communal 
 sympathy must have much to do with this for in German cities 
 this is markedly present. Each German has a peculiar feeling of 
 allegiance to his City, and a feeling of kinship with his fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 The writer expressed such an opinion to a well-known public 
 man in Germany, who, while admitting the existence of the char- 
 acteristic referred to, explained the problem quite differently, as 
 follows : 
 
 " You will recall," he said, " that these enterprises you admire 
 are quite recent. These city improvements have originated and 
 been carried to their successful issue since 1870. The German 
 feeling of kinship and love of City as a racial characteristic, must 
 have existed for ages without producing such results. There was 
 scarcely a paved street or sewer system in Germany before the 
 time of Bismark; but since 1870, the growth has been marvelous. 
 
 " l^ow consider ; these things become possible because of a com- 
 mon aim and united purpose, a habit formed by actual discipline 
 that enabled the people, many of them far from educated, not 
 even very intelligent at the time the beginning was made, to work 
 together in civil life much as in the ranks of an army. . Observe 
 this carefully: Germany is the army; the army is Germany. 
 Surrounded as we are and always have been with powerful, even 
 hostile neighbors and rivals, thrown upon the members of the 
 German race for protection, we have developed a civil life with a 
 military spirit, a military life with a civil spirit, and we are all 
 as one man on the point that Germany must continue to be great 
 
GENBEAL IMPEESSIONS. 39 
 
 and free, and permtted to fulfil her mission of civilization. Since 
 1870, this has meant constant preparedness for war, for our 
 position could scarcely remain unchallenged. 
 
 " It is obvious that success in vrar depends upon success in 
 peace. The training and education of the citizen must be such 
 that all can act together for a definite purpose which his leaders 
 consider requisite for his well-being. Those in the lower ranks must 
 be taught to feel confidence in those in the higher ranks, and those 
 in the higher ranks must be trained to responsibility, just as in 
 the army. The country that from the training and discipline 
 given its men is quickest and best able to bring its resources to 
 bear efficiently, either in peace or war, stands the best chance of 
 success. An abundant and healthy race of men must be bred to fill 
 the ranks, and this can only be done successfully by social and 
 industrial efficiency. Commerce and labor alone can supply the 
 surplus wealth in private hands that must be ready to sustain war. 
 The weapons of warfare demand the highest scientific and 
 mechanical skill; chemistry and engineering must be employed 
 to the limit of their capacity. 
 
 " Such a development as outlined has, of necessity, been created 
 in Germany since 1870. The results in civil life have been very 
 remarkable and have almost justified the military theory, as a 
 tonic to social evolution, science and industry. The growth of 
 German cities has resulted from the impetus given by universal 
 military training." 
 
 In other words, according to this opinion, the preparation for 
 war constantly going on for forty odd years has incidentally and 
 unexpectedly stimulated and turned out for the advantage of Ger- 
 man industrial progress. Preparation for dealing death and de- 
 struction has created civilization ! 
 
 But this theory is not accepted by the German Socialist-Demo- 
 crats, one of whom told the writer that it was entirely wrong, and 
 that the true reason for the great progress made by Germany since 
 1870 was long continued peace, which hitherto had never been 
 enjoyed to the same extent. He said: 
 
 " For ages Germany has been the victim of France and Austria, 
 the cat's paw of England. The true cause of German progress 
 is that Bismarck cleared the field. The German race always 
 possessed the high qualities that we admire to-day, but a dis- 
 jointed militarism, in which every local county or principality 
 was an independent sovereignty ruled by a military feudalism, 
 made progress impossible. 
 
40 CITY BEAUTIFICATI03Sr IN EUEOPE. 
 
 " The German people, once united in a peaceeful democratic 
 republican government, protected from their enemies by ample 
 military provision for defense, vrould naturally progress as greatly 
 or even more greatly than they have done notwithstanding the 
 burden of forced military service. The German is intensely 
 social, fond of his family, devoted to his sense of duty, with a 
 mind both profound and ingenious ; capable of the highest develop- 
 ment; and he is essentially democratic. 
 
 " Militarism is entirely tmnatural to Germany, and notwith- 
 standing the historical fact that she has been, and still is, sur- 
 rounded with potential enemies, ready to arise at any moment 
 and rend her piecemeal, militarism has no sure foundation in Ger- 
 many. The people despise and groan under it; but all realize 
 that it is necessary and affords safety. What might we not be, 
 what might we not do for the civilization of the world, if we were 
 not compelled to pay an enormous and continual tribute to the 
 war god ! 
 
 " For the present at least we must keep on paying the price of 
 our freedom and safety." 
 
 The reader may select either of the above theories, or form one 
 for himself. Perhaps both are partly true, for really there is 
 less conflict between them than at first appears. The same facts 
 are seen merely from different standpoints. 
 
 It is impossible in an article of this length to give much idea 
 of the actual things that are regarded as beautiful. One City has 
 much in common with all others, in that it is made up of streets, 
 buildings, parks, etc.; and yet there is endless variety in every 
 one. Each City has its own individuality and produces its own 
 effect. 
 
 Our object has been to go into detail only in so far as would 
 illustrate principles which seem to be of general application and 
 of general interest. So many excellent books and articles have 
 been placed within the reach of the public, that to do more than 
 give a rapid personal impression would perhaps be an impertinence. 
 
GENERAL IMPEESSIOH'S. 41 
 
 To sum up, or generalize the impression made by Gennan cities, 
 one thing stands out particularly, which is the prominence given 
 to artistic effect in planning street systems and the arrangement of 
 buildings, and the advantage taken of any natural characteristic of 
 the location to enhance the beauty of a city. Swamps are turned 
 into lakes; hills are crowned with beautiful architecture, or well 
 designed monuments. 
 
 Broad boulevards are seen, laid out in sweeping curves, and 
 bordered with trees, wide sidewalks and foot paths, sidewalk cafes 
 and seats, adaptable to the outdoor life of the people. The cut- 
 ting of wide avenues through tenement districts and pest-spots, 
 and making the enhanced value of the land pay for the improve- 
 ment by the simple means of taking the land and selling it after 
 making the improvement, with the added advantage of being able 
 to restrict the size and style of buildings to be placed on it, is one 
 of the wisest of city methods for obtaining fine avenues and fine 
 buildings. 
 
 Other characteristics of German cities are public buildings that 
 are monumental, a source of beauty and civic pride, for public busi- 
 ness and popular resort and recreation, as rathauses, opera houses, 
 theatres, museums, etc. ; the adoption and carrying out progres- 
 sively of a comprehensive architectural scheme, so as to secure 
 symmetry and beauty, in height of buildings and their design, 
 and the purposes for which they are permitted to be used 
 in the various civic centres; and the provision of adequate 
 facilities for traffic, by providing arcades passing through or under 
 buildings, as is frequently done, where streets cannot be provided. 
 
 A striking feature is the provisions for river-bank improvement, 
 full advantage being taken of this opportunity for beautiful effects, 
 as well as for utility, instead of the littered and neglected condi- 
 tion permitted to such places in our country. 
 
 Dresden, well named the Florence of the North, which impressed 
 the writer as the most beautiful City in Germany ; Cologne witb 
 its wonderful cathedral and splendid avenues and Ring-strassen ; 
 Frankfort-on-the-Main, a City of unique beauty, where the ancient 
 structures, such as the Romerberg, are made to contrast vsrith and 
 heighten the beauty of new buildings, such as the municipal the- 
 
42 CITY BEAUTIFICATIOK IN EUEOPE. 
 
 atre, the palm garden, and others; Wiesbaden, with its parks, 
 gardens and beautiful street-plan ; Munich, with a magnificence of 
 buildings and design in city plan that make us hesitate to call 
 Dresden the more beautiful; Strassburg, which of all German 
 cities, impresses one as the most German, originally and for agesi 
 a City of the German Empire, until added to the Kingdom of 
 Louis XIV by conquest ; with its well-planned streets and squares 
 and fine old buildings, with strangely beautiful sky-lines, and its 
 cathedral, both grand and delicate; not to mention -the cities of 
 Austria that are all worthy of description, must all be passed over 
 by us without further remark. Space does not permit a descrip- 
 tion of the fine things they show the traveler, and enough has 
 already been said to illustrate and enforce the point intended, 
 which is to show that municipal beautification and improvement 
 may be accomplished without the cost being prohibitive, and at 
 the same time every interest of the city well served, with the 
 greatest increase in the health, wealth and happiness of the citi- 
 zens, by a vdse use of opportunities which lay within the reach of 
 every American City.