German Town Exhibition; Dresden 1903
My notes on Germany 1648 to 1806 , Germany 1800 to 1840s , Waikato the golden age 1840s to 1850s , Waikato 1860s , Gentry & Speculators , The beginning of modern planning: Water, Sewage, Housing, Transport, City Centre, Markets and Zoning, 1890s: Introduction, Dwellings & Lots, Reason for Zoning, Horses, Cyclists & road deaths, York, City beautiful & genesis of motorways, Garden City,
The German ‘Town Municipal Exposition’ was about the actual conditions of German municipalities at the beginning of the twentieth century, especially their progress in the last decade, unlike the ‘Chicago Fair’ of 1893 and Mr Howard’s ‘Garden Cities of Tomorrow’, which focused on a future utopia. For the 1903 Dresden exposition ‘Four hundred manufacturers accepted the invitation presented to them; and of the cities invited, those having over 25,000 inhabitants, 128 accepted’ (Woodhead (i) p.2). Also ‘representatives of several foreign cities, including The Hague, were invited to the festive opening ... “in this period of restless activity we never sat back to evaluate what had been achieved and where we were heading.” To do so now was the aim of the show. The period of experimentation was over; what was needed now was the formulation of ‘general principles’ ... The exhibition included full-scale examples of different types of pavement, sewer systems, and even buildings’ (Wagenaar p.184)’.
Town Planning in the Netherlands since 1800: chapter on The Urban Challenge 1871-1914, Cor Wagenaar
The best source of information I can find comes from H. Woodhead’s 1904 article in the American Journal of Sociology, titled ‘The First German Municipal Exposition (Dresden, 1903)’ which is published on-line by the University of Chicago Press in 4 parts (labelled i to iv). There is a lot information on German cities. Here are just a few snippets from Woodhead’s article. A) Traffic; ‘in view of the increase in amount and rapidity of transportation (i p.3) Paving - No cobblestone pavements were exhibited, even as relics! Asphalt and wood blocks are replacing other pavements whenever possible’ (i p.5). B) Expansion; The arrangement, direction, and width of streets are planned, as are paving, drainage, and sewerage; the division of the city into residence, factory, and business quarters is in the hands of the Baupolizei [building control department] (i p.14) When building laws prescribe detached or semi-detached houses with roomy garden space on all sides, the price of dwellings must rise, not only because the larger building lot and the detached house are dearer, but because services such as those just mentioned, together with increased expense for inspection, fire and police protection, etc., increase the expenses of the city, and taxes are higher. Small shops - such shops as are connected with dwellings are already included in the present activity. It is expected that the proposed action will be of great benefit to the small shop-keepers, who could not afford the loss of time and trade (i p.23)
Smoke prevention - Over forty industrial firms exhibited various fuels and appliances for the prevention or consumption of smoke. Complete combustion was the end in view, whether it was to be attained by good fuel or by proper stoking, or both ... Two municipalities, Munchen and Dresden, have smoke-inspection departments which presented small exhibits ... the gray and gray-black patches on the cards are to be compared with smoke columns issuing from chimneys of factories and dwelling-houses, and when the smoke density is reported as excessive the offender is fined ... It will be seen that the aim is to prevent as large a part of the smoke nuisance as possible, even though the absolute prevention of smoke is not yet possible. (iii p.18) Sewers: Almost every municipality exhibiting in this section showed its well-developed network of sewers. (iii p.3). The image below shows ‘the exhibition included full-scale examples of different types of pavement, sewer systems, and even buildings’ (Wagenaar, p.184)
The various departments of the exposition will be dealt with as follows: A. Traffic, B Expansion, C Public charities, D Municipal employment, E Public health and safety, F Education, G Public art, H Public finance, I Statistics (i p.2). Food inspection ... Municipal abattoirs ... Municipal markets (iii p.20) Fire Fighting (iii p.21) Police (iii P.22) ... There is a lot.
The first German municipal exposition. (Dresden, 1903) i
The first German municipal exposition. (Dresden, 1903.) ii