Census in Germany

A national census in Germany (German: Volkszählung) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, was the 2011 European Union census.

World map showing countries' most recent censuses as of 2020:
  2015–2024
  2005–2014
  1995–2004
  1985–1994

Early history

Nuremberg in 1471[1] held a census, to be prepared in case of a siege. Brandenburg-Prussia in 1683 began to count its rural population. The first systematic population survey on the European continent was taken in 1719 in the Mark Brandenburg of the Kingdom of Prussia, in order to prepare the first general census of 1725.

In Habsburg ruled Austria, a population count had been introduced in 1754, but due to resistance by nobility and clerics, no full census was held after 1769. A century and many political changes later, census resumed in 1869, and were held also in 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, in the same years as the German Empire census. Between the wars, census were held in 1920, 1923, 1934 and 1939, to be resumed in 1951 with a ten-year occurrence.

For 1806, a population of 24,241,000 for several Imperial Circles is quoted in the "Statistik des deutschen Reiches",[2] even though the old Holy Roman Empire had fallen apart, and a new German Empire did not exist yet as a political entity. By 1821, the population within the newly founded German Confederation had grown to over 30 million.[3]

German Zollverein (1834–1867)
Zollverein and German Unification

When the German Confederation had been founded in 1815, some states had been anxious to prove they had a small population in order to contribute fewer soldiers to the Federal Army. On the other hand, when the first custom union between southern states were formed, they wanted to show they had a large population in order to claim a larger share of the custom revenue.[4] The German Customs Union, the Zollverein, conducted population counts from 1834 to 1867, every three years on 3 December, in order to share its revenue among the member states accordingly. The date of 3 December was chosen as most people of the „Zollabrechnungsbevölkerung“, the custom accounting population, were expected to be at home then. The Eastern parts of Prussia remained outside of the Confederation for most of the time, but the whole of Prussia was part of the Zollverein. While most states joined the Zollverein sooner or later, the Austrian Empire never did until the German Confederation and the Zollverein broke up in the civil war of 1866. The Zollverein regrouped and held another census in 1867, but the census of 1870 was postponed due to the ongoing Franco-German War and the foundation of the German Empire.

Date Area in km² Population Pop. per km² Area changes
3 December 1834420,30123,478,12056
3 December 1837439,42026,008,97359since 1835 including Land Baden and Herzogtum Nassau, since 1836 including Freie Stadt Frankfurt
3 December 1840439,42027,142,11662
3 December 1843447,50728,498,13664since 1841 including Herzogtum Braunschweig, since 1842 including Luxembourg
3 December 1846447,50729,461,38166
3 December 1849447,50729,800,06367
3 December 1852447,50730,492,79268
3 December 1855492,62132,721,34466since 1854 including Königreich Hannover, Großherzogtum Olenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe
3 December 1858492,62133,542,35268
3 December 1861492,62134,670,27770
3 December 1864492,62135,886,30273
3 December 1867510,62837,512,00573since 1867 including Fürstentum Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz

German Empire, Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany (1871–1945)

Starting in 1871, the census resumed in the newly united German Empire, continuing every five years from 1875 to 1910. The first large-scale census in the German Empire took place in 1895 (see German census of 1895).

The last pre-war census was held on 1 December 1910, the 1915 census was canceled, but two war censuses were held on 5 December 1916 and 1917 to organize the sharing of food. On 8 October 1919 and 16 June 1925, regular census resumed.

  • Population density in the 1925 census
    Population density in the 1925 census
  • Occupation in the 1925 census
    Occupation in the 1925 census
  • Religion in the 1925 census
    Religion in the 1925 census

The 1930 census was delayed by the Depression until 1933, and another one was carried out in 1939, both were affected by the bias of the Nazi government. Initially planned for 1937, the 1939 census now also included the areas of Austria, Sudetenland and Memelland. About 750,000 counters covered 22 million households and roughly 80 million inhabitants. Made in atmosphere of terror, attacks on members of Polish minority, and demolishing of Polish shops and libraries, the census resulted in many Poles living in Germany giving their nationality as German out of fear of losing life or well-being of their families.[5]

After the Second World War the occupying powers started to count the population in their zones, first the Soviets on 1 December 1945, then the French on 26 January 1946. On 29 October 1946, a census was held in all four zones.

Population of Germany by аge and sex (demographic pyramid) as of 16 June 1933
Population of Germany (includes Austria) by age and sex (demographic pyramid) as of 17 May 1939
Population of Germany (excludes Saar) by аge and sex (demographic pyramid) as on 29 October 1946. Many former German soldiers didn't participate
Population of Germany by аge and sex (demographic pyramid) as of 31 December 1950
Date Area in km² Pop. Pop. per km² Area changes
1 December 1871541,56141,058,79276
1 December 1875539,82942,727,36079
1 December 1880540,52245,234,06184
1 December 1885540,59746,855,70487
1 December 1890540,50449,428,47091
2 December 1895540,65852,279,90197
1 December 1900540,74356,367,178104
1 December 1905540,77860,641,489112
1 December 1910540,85864,925,993120
1 December 1916540,85862,272,185115
5 December 1917540,85862,615,275116
8 October 1919474,30460,898,584128since 1919 without Elsaß-Lothringen, Provinz Posen and Westpreußen
16 June 1925468,71862,410,619133since 1920 without Memelland, Nordschleswig, Ostbelgien and Saargebiet, since 1922 without Ostoberschlesien
16 June 1933468,78765,362,115139
17 May 1939583,37079,375,281136since 1935 with Saargebiet, since 1938 with Ostmark and Sudetenland, since March 1939 with Memelland
27 May 1942 [6]
1 March 1943 [7]
29 October 1946353,46065,137,274184since 1945 without Ostgebiete des Deutschen Reiches, since 1946 without Saarland

Ethnic minorities in 1900

According to the census of 1900, among the total population of 56,367,178 there were 51,883,131 with German language as their first and only language, plus 252,918 bilingual Germans. The largest minority was the Polish, with 3,086,489 (not including 142,049 Masurians and 100,213 Kashubians).[8] The census results also listed the districts with a minority larger than 5%, including many districts in which German speakers were a minority.[9]

East Germany (1949–1990)

The German Democratic Republic held four census during its existence, of which only the 1964 results were published in full. Unlike most European countries, which saw a significant growth of their populations, the GDR suffered a drop. Until the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, over three million[10] Germans had defected from the GDR to West Germany. As many young adults had chosen to leave, this also affected the numbers of babies born in the following decades.

Date Area in km² Pop. Pop. per km²
31 August 1950107,86218,388,172170
31 December 1964108,30417,003,655157
1 January 1971108,17817,068,318158
31 December 1981108,33316,705,635154

Federal Republic of Germany (formerly known as West Germany) (since 1949)
Census 2022 logo
Date Area in km² Pop. Pop. per km² Area changes
13 September 1950245,77049,842,624203since 1949 without East Germany, East Berlin and Saarland, with West Berlin
25 September 1956245,86052,195,100212
6 June 1961248,45656,174,826226since 1957 with Saarland
27 May 1970248,46960,650,584244
25 May 1987248,62661,077,042246
9 May 2011357,16880,200,000[11]225since 1990 with East Germany and East Berlin

In the 1980s, attempts at introducing a census in West Germany sparked strong popular resentment since some felt that the questions to be asked were quite personal. Comparisons to Orwell's 1984 were drawn. Some campaigned for a boycott, or for intentional false statements. The Constitutional Court stopped the census in 1983, and required a revision of the process. The modified census was eventually held in 1987.

For 1991 a concurrent census in both West and East Germany had been planned,[12] but it was canceled due to reunification, and replaced by a "micro census" population sample among 1 percent of house holds. Due to reunification and immigration from former Eastern Bloc states and the war-torn Balkans, the population has grown to c. 82 million in the 1990s, but no census has been held since 1987. As of July 2017 The CIA Factbook[13] estimates the population at 80,159,662, and ranks Germany as 19th [14] in the world. Former population censuses in Germany were complete enumerations obtained directly from the entire population in personal interviews or by questionnaire. For the 1987 population census, some 500 000 enumerators were required and for 2011, a change in methodology was planned, and the costs of the largely register-based census were expected to be only about one third of the expenditure of a traditional population census. Mainly the data already stored in the registers of the administrative authorities, in the population registers of the municipalities and the registers of the Federal Employment Agency was used. Additional data, like information on education, training and occupation, would be collected by an interview-based sample survey. The data on buildings and dwellings, for which there are no registers in Germany, would be collected by mail from all owners.[15]

See also

Literature
  • Kaiserliches Statistisches Amt (Hrsg.): Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich, 1880–1918
  • Statistisches Reichsamt (Hrsg.): Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich, 1919–1941/42
  • Statistisches Bundesamt (Hrsg.): Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1952 ff.
  • Staatliche Zentralverwaltung für Statistik (Hrsg.): Statistisches Jahrbuch der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1955–1989

References
  1. Kersten Krüger: Historische Statistik, in: Formung der frühen Moderne - Ausgewählte Aufsätze, LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2005 ISBN 3-8258-8873-8, ISBN 978-3-8258-8873-2 p. 272
  2. Prof. Conrad Mannert: Statistik des deutschen Reiches, Bamberg and Würzburg, 1806, p. 48
  3. Johann Daniel Albrecht Höck: Handbuch einer Statistik der deutschen Bundesstaaten, C. Cnobloch, 1821 p. 28
  4. William Otto Henderson: The Zollverein Routledge, 1984 ISBN 0-7146-1322-3, ISBN 978-0-7146-1322-2
  5. Polska i Polacy w propagandzie narodowego socjalizmu w Niemczech 1919-1945 Eugeniusz Cezary Król, page 216, Instytut Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2006
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), only in Lithuanian areas.
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Statistik des Deutschen Reichs. Band 150: Die Volkszählung am 1. Dezember 1900 im Deutschen Reich. Berlin, 1903, according to Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte 1871 - 1990 © 2006 by Dr. Michael Rademacher M.A., http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/fremdsprachen.html Archived 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Sportwetten Verwaltung – Eine langwierige Geschichte".
  10. Mueller, Ulrich; Nauck, Bernhard & Andreas, Diekmann (April 2000). "30". Handbuch der Demographie: Anwendungen [Handbook of Demography: Applications] (in German) (1 ed.). Springer. p. 1221. ISBN 978-3-540-66108-5.
  11. "Demographic Corrections: Census Downsizes German Population". Der Spiegel. May 31, 2013 – via Spiegel Online.
  12. online, heise. "Vor 20 Jahren: 10 Minuten, die allen helfen [Update]". heise online.
  13. "Europe :: Germany — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 2 November 2022.
  14. "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009.
  15. Federal Statistical Office Archived June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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