The Evolution of Housing in Germany

🏠 People in Germany today live in different types of housing, including apartment buildings and single-family homes.

👥 The average household size has decreased over the years, with more people living alone.

💰 Affordable housing is a major issue in many cities.

⏳ The history of housing in Germany goes back to the Neolithic period, around 8000 years ago.

⭐️ In ancient times, people lived in longhouses, with multiple generations and livestock under one roof.

🏡 The household and workplace were integrated, with farming activities centered around the house.

🌾 The traditional way of living in rural areas, although depicted as idyllic, was often challenging and difficult.

🏢 The 19th century brought significant changes in housing due to the rise of the middle class and the industrial revolution.

🏘️ In the 19th century, there was a division in society between the wealthy bourgeoisie and the working class, and both groups had separate living and working spaces.

💰 Although the facades of houses in the 19th century may have appeared wealthy, only a smaller portion of society, the bourgeoisie, could afford such homes.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The concept of the bourgeois nuclear family, with clear roles for the father as the provider and the mother as the homemaker, was already established in urban areas before the 19th century.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 In the 19th century, there was a shift in the understanding of childhood in the middle-class, where children were no longer required to help with household chores.

🏭 During the industrial revolution, there was a significant change in people's daily lives as work shifted to factories and industries, resulting in the urbanization of cities.

🌾 Around 1800, three-quarters of the population lived in rural areas, but by 1910, only about 40 percent still lived there.

Berlin experienced a significant population increase during industrialization.

The rapid urbanization led to social problems, particularly in housing.

The living conditions in worker apartments were extremely poor.

🏠 The history of housing shows that in the past, basement apartments were plagued with issues like mold and pests. Toilets were shared among tenants or located outside. People would rent out their beds to temporary sleepers due to lack of money.

🏘️ The 20th century brought improvements in housing conditions with the recognition of the social issue and the construction of affordable housing complexes in many cities. The development of functional living spaces, like the Frankfurt Kitchen, became popular.

🚧 After World War II, there was a severe housing shortage, leading to the creation of makeshift shelters called nissen huts. It took many years to address the housing crisis and rebuild the destroyed millions of homes.

🏢 Both in the DDR and the Bundesrepublik, urban planners have focused on high-rise settlements since the 1960s.

👪 The concept of the nuclear family reached its peak during this time, with 75% of people living as a nuclear family with children.

🏡 Current trends in housing include ecological and sustainable construction, as well as small-scale living like the tiny house movement.