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Similar to other large cities in the late Middle Ages and the early modern age, Lübeck had its share of day-labourers and porters. They mostly lived in small houses, usually called "Buden" (huts) which were crowded together on corner lots, behind town houses or in the yards surrounded by residential blocks. The inconspicuously located living areas were called "Gänge" or "Gangviertel" - passageways or passage quarters. There are hardly any medieval huts left today as they were not built out of stone until the mid-19th century.
The merchants, the well-to-do middle class and the church were quick to realise the fountain of wealth that a house with a built-up yard represented. The unavoidable trade with the tiny residential passageways and also the charging of exorbitant rents took on astonishing forms. It was left up to the landlord just how many families he would squeeze into the tiny flats, and how many Buden he would have built behind his house. The smallest of these buildings, at Hartengrube No. 36, was 3.45 meters wide, 4.65 meters deep and 4.95 meters high (measured to the roof ridge). As the general population grew in the second half of the 15th century, the number of residents in Lübeck increased by about a quarter as well. This led to the impoverishment of a greater part of its population, leading to more and expanded construction in the passage quarters. There were more than 180 passageways in Lübeck at the close of the 17th century. Today, some 90 passageways still exist.
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