Octavia Hill Verein Berlin

Octavia Hill Verein Berlin

When in the second half of the 19th century the social / urban question played an important role in public debates and politics in the western world, one of the answers that was formulated concerning the housing question was the answer by Octavia Hill. Her 'friendly rent collecting system', in which the frequent personal contact of a middle class (female) inspector-rentcollector with the tenant families had to promote a 'better' way of living, attracted many other social reformers. In the Netherlands her ideas were put into practice by two ladies who had been Hill's trainees in London in the late 1890s. Back in Amsterdam the Hill system was set up and the aspect of the female inspector was eventually institutionalised into municipal policy.

The international transfer of the ideas and practice developed by Octavia Hill not only reached the Netherlands. In my research into the transfer of social answers on the urban and social question, the case of Hill appeared to be transferred to other places in particular. It seems that in most cases her system was copied and adjusted by just one or a few reformers, who often had visited Octavia Hill personally. To get a clear picture of the spread of her ideas it is interesting to collect the initiatives that were developed in Hill's name in other countries. Besides the Dutch interest, there are accounts in her work and in secondary studies of American, Swedish, Russian and German women visiting her and of the establishment of an Octavia Hill Association in Philadelphia and of an Octavia Hill Verein in Berlin. Unfortunately, I did not find any more information on this Verein in Berlin, so I would be grateful for any reference to publications and studies on the activities and practices of the Octavia Hill Verein in Berlin. Of course I would be also be highly interested into other local initatives.

With kind regards,

Dr. Christianne Smit
History Department,
Groningen University
The Netherlands