The mietskasernen in Berlin

A courtyard

After the unification of Germany in 1871, Berlin became an industrial and international metropolis in a few decades, after having been only a provincial town, albeit capital of the Prussian kings. His population was increasing at a dizzying pace, which heightened the need for urban residential development. As urban planning was relatively unregulated, and the main motive being the maximization of rental income benefits, the results have been the mietskaserne, the "rental barracks" that dominated rapidly urban housing in Berlin.

Generally, these buildings were five storeys high and were arranged in a series of blocks around a small central courtyard. Although imposing from the outside, the Mietskaserne could be subdivided internally into almost any combination of individual apartments depending on the number and size of the rooms.

Mietskaserne developed rapidly in working-class neighborhoods in response to the need to provide housing for the rapid influx of workers seeking employment in Berlin's booming industries. The overcrowding of the Mietskaserne was commonplace, rents were often disproportionate, forcing tenants to sublet rooms and beds to supplement their meager incomes, which made overcrowding even worse. In many cases, these sub-tenants were night renters who paid for a place to sleep at night. The often sumptuous facades of the Mietskaserne hid an appalling misery.