A woman sits in her basement apartment in the left side wing at Bergstraße 38 in Berlin, taken in 1910. - The original caption reads: "Basement apartment 4.50m long x 2.80m wide and 2.50m high. The room is smoky, one third of the floor is paved, the remaining part is boarded. The wooden door on the right leads to the adjacent horse stable." Flash photograph. - The photo was taken on behalf of the Berlin Housing Enquête of the "Ortskrankenkasse der Kaufleute, Handelsleute und Apotheker" (Local Health Insurance Fund of Merchants, Tradesmen and Pharmacists) to document the living quarters in Berlin's slums. The study was intended to draw attention to the disastrous housing conditions as one of the main causes of widespread disease, in order to persuade the state and local authorities to combat the poor housing conditions. Photo: Fotoarchiv fuer Zeitgeschichte/Archiv [automated translation]
