Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/645

 THE FIRST GERMAN MUNICIPAL EXPOSITION 625

change this. The space formerly occupied by wall and moat offered the opportunity of laying out parks about the inner city; or, better, of encircling boulevards and promenades, or a series of detached parks surrounding the central part of the city. Miinster, Freiburg, Breslau, Hanover, and Wiirzburg are among those cities which have made such use of the land gained by the destruction of their fortifications. Wiirzburg has preserved a portion of the old fortifications, and has laid out the grounds well, with artificial fountains, ponds, and waterfalls. One part of this ring of parks furnishes the site for the royal residence, for a church, a school, a courthouse, and other public buildings. Various operations, such as straightening main thoroughfares and cutting new streets through a closely built district, leave small angles which are hardly adapted to building purposes. The excellent opportunity hereby offered for the laying out of small parks is seldom lost. Moreover, the modern street, with its large stores and their show windows, has taken upon itself the functions of the old-time market-place. The latter may, then, well be transformed into a small park, adding to the beauty and healthfulness of the city. Berlin may be mentioned, in this connection, as one example out of the many exhibited. A great many of the German cities are situated on river banks ; and it is noticeable that the river fronts are almost always laid out in parks or promenades, for the health and recreation of the people and the beauty of the city. Large parks cannot be allowed to exist in cities when they encroach too much. If they are so situated that they interfere with immediate connection between important quarters of the city, they must be opened to traffic, at least to some extent. For example, the Barmerwald, in Barmen, lies between a new district being developed as a residence neigh- borhood and the business center. Direct thoroughfares have been laid through it. In the Thiergarten, in Berlin, are to be found canals, roads for traffic vehicles, electric street railways (with underground conduits), and an elevated road. It will be readily recognized that the advantages derived by means of parks and boulevards result also, in some measure, from the activities of the Baupolizei especially in those districts where