Objekt 2139
Soup for the poor
Description
The workers’ social situation in the 19th and early 20th centuries was precarious:
living conditions were unsanitary, wages were low, working hours in
the factories long. When crises and periods of war hit the population hard,
food halls and soup kitchens offered soup and bread for a small charge. In
the Silberberg soup kitchen on Utengasse, up to 4,000 litres of soup were
served daily in the winter of 1940–41. After the Second World War demand
decreased and in 1948 the soup kitchen closed down.
Object description
Soup bowl from the Silberberg soup kitchen
Basel, beginning of 20th century
aluminium
given by Staatsarchiv Basel-Stadt
Inv. 1991.251.