Housing in the past Town House in Rastatt 1904

Rastatt is a town of about inhabitants in the south of Baden- Württemberg/Germany. The river Rhine is the natural border to France.The biggest cities are Stuttgart(capital of the state),Karlsruhe and Mannheim.

Climate of the Rhine Valley The Rhine Valley has one of the mildest climates in Germany. In winter the temperatures are seldom below zero so there is little snow. In summer, however, temperatures can rise up to 30 degrees celsius with a high humidity at times. So houses have blinds in front of their windows to protect against the sun. In the colder winter months houses would be heated with coal that would be stored in a special room in the basement, the “coal cellar“. Many houses have balconies or little dormer windows to give some extra space.

Rastatt in the past 300 years it was built in the baroque style with a big castle in the fashion of Versailles Until 1890 Rastatt was surrounded by a fortress. It was built as a protection against the French who live just on the other side ot the Rhine. The city of Rastatt was inside the fortress and so no new buildings could be built outside.

Remains of the old fortress When the fortress was not needed any more as the Alsace became German it was pulled down. Some parts can still be seen. The picture shows an old entrance to the fortress. (Fort Friedrichsau)

Town planning Now town planning was possible and new houses were built outside the city centre at about Some housing estates were developed on the other side of the river Murg like the house of 1904.

New housing estates This map from about 1900 shows the new housing estates outside the former fortress. The old city centre is north of the river Murg. The castle is shown in a darker red.

Houses in the Kanalstrasse in Rastatt This photo shows houses in the Kanalstrasse from Most houses of richer people had three floors so that the servants could live under the roof.

House in Dammstreet 4 The descendants of the family who built the house still live there. This house was built in 1904 but has been renovated since. Still it looks very much like the original house with its three dormer windows.

Who lived in this house August Schmitt lived in this house with his 3 sons and his 3 daughters: Maria, Lina, Anna (photo). He was a farmer and he was the owner of a brickwork which made him wealthy as Rastatt needed a lot of bricks at that time (town development) He used his owns bricks when building his house.

This house in the 1920s with one of the sons

When the house was built it had a big garden with fruit trees and vegetables for the family. There was only one pub opposite the house and a lot of space around the house.Today is surrounded by buildings.In the background you can see a shed.

What was life like in Rastatt around 1900 Where is the washing machine?Where are the big shops?

Daily life of children At school Popular freetime activity – when they didn‘t have to help at home

How most people got from one place to the other

The train station was very important to promote town development

How was it built The entrance of the house was added later, but the exterior hasn‘t changed. The house had 2 flats some chambers in the attic and a basement.

Original plans of the house Outline of the house Cross section with stairs and floors

From the plans you can see that the house had 2 flats each with a kitchen, a toilet ( the soakaway was outside), and 3 rooms which would be used as living- room and bedroom.

Higher ceilings than a farmhouse Taller windows in the flats of first and second floor to let in the light representative decoration in the main flats

In the basemant coal, potatoes etc were stored,floors …

Walls As the owner produced his own bricks he was rather wealthy and could use them to build his own house. The walls consisted of 2 layers of bricks with stones to fill the space in between

Roof/Ceilings and Floors Built of wood and tiles with no isolation It was used as store room The floors and ceilings were also a wood construction with straw to fill in the space. This was an insulation against cold but didn‘t help against the sounds of the people living above and below.