Accomodation costs in Warsaw in the years 1864-1914

Abstract

The article explores the issue of living costs in Warsaw in the years 1864–1914, with special focus on accommodation costs. The period is well documented by statistical sources, especially by accommodation censuses from 1868, 1882 and 1891. There are also abundant press reports and memoirs. As most sources regarding dwelling houses were destroyed during WW II, important additional information can be inferred from classified advertisements, which specified the metric area, furnishings and prices of flats for rent. Sources also allow for estimating the earnings of some social groups, especially workers and intelligentsia. The period in question saw huge discrepancies in earnings as well as impoverishment of intelligentsia, suffering from repressions after the fall of the anti-Russian uprising in 1864. At the same time, flat rents grew, sometimes even soared. This was conditioned by the market  situation, economic fluctuations and the purchasing power of the rouble, not directly by the material standing of the city dwellers. Municipal authorities did not launch any projects of improving the situation, since they were not in possession of land that could be developed and the political situation was unstable. All the initiatives in that respect came from private persons. Many of the city dwellers were forced to live in dark, small, poorly aired flats in annexes.Accommodation costs were increased by service, furniture and a necessity to move frequently. The discrepancy between income and accommodation costs made many families adopt peculiar ‘strategies’, such as renting only a small flat in Warsaw for winter, living in the suburbs (despite difficulties in commuting due to the poor state of transport) or changing flats frequently. In such circumstances decisions to marry and take responsibility for starting a family were difficult. Unsurprisingly then, Warsaw witnessed a decrease in the number of new marriages and in birth rate at that time.