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Population Growth in Large Cities (1875-1910)

German cities experienced enormous growth during the Bismarckian and Wilhelmine periods. The population of Berlin, for example, more than doubled between 1875 and 1910. In addition to reflecting astounding growth rates, the population figures below document one significant effect of German industrialization: migration from the country to the city, where people hoped to find new work. The table reflects the extent of this shift. But a closer analysis of the statistics for the period 1875-1910 also reveals important disparities in the growth rates of particular cities. (Here, the year 1890 can be used as a “before and after” point for analyzing population growth.) For example, the population growth rate of Magdeburg, a city in central Germany, declined after 1890, as did the growth rate of Leipzig, a city in the Kingdom of Saxony, but Leipzig still continued to grow at twice the rate of Magdeburg. By contrast, cities like Duisburg and Essen, located in the Ruhr district of western Germany, grew more rapidly after 1890 than they had up to that point.

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The Growth of Major German Cities* (Cities with a Population Greater than 200,000 in 1910)

1875-1910

1875-1890

1890-1910

Population in

Population growth rate 1875-1910 in %

1875

1890

1910

Berlin

966,859

1,587,794

2,071,257

114.2

64.2

30.4

Bremen

102,532

125,684

217,437

112.1

22.6

73.0

Breslau

239,050

335,186

512,105

114.2

40.2

52.8

Charlottenburg

25,847

76,859

305,978

1 083.8

197.4

298.1

Chemnitz

78,209

138,954

287,807

268.0

77.7

107.1

Cologne

135,371

281,681

516,527

281.6

108.1

83.4

Dortmund

57,742

89,663

214,226

271.0

55.3

138.9

Dresden

197,295

276,522

548,308

177.9

40.2

98.3

Düsseldorf

80,695

144,642

358,728

344.5

79.2

148.0

Duisburg

37,380

59,285

229,438

513.8

58.6

287.0

Essen/Ruhr

54,790

78,706

294,653

437.8

43.7

274.4

Frankfurt/M.

103,136

179,985

414,576

302.0

74.5

130.3

Hamburg

264,675

323,923

931,035

251.8

22.4

187.4

Hannover

106,677

163,593

302,375

183.4

53.4

84.8

Kiel

37,246

69,172

211,627

468.2

85.7

205.9

Königsberg

122,636

161,666

245,994

100.6

31.8

52.2

Leipzig

127,387

295,025

589,850

363.0

131.6

99.9

Magdeburg

87,925

202,234

279,629

218.0

130.0

38.3

Munich

193,024

349,024

596,467

209.0

80.8

70.9

Nuremberg

91,018

142,590

333,142

266.0

56.7

133.6

Stettin

80,972

116,228

236,113

191.6

43.5

103.1

Stuttgart

107,273

139,817

286,218

166.8

30.3

104.7

Number of cities with more than 10,000 residents

271

394

576

112.5

45.4

46.2


* The selection criterion of more than 200,000 inhabitants does not accord with the definition of a large city at the time, which included all cities with a population exceeding 100,000.


Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich [Statistical Almanac for the German Reich]; 1881, pp. 3ff (for 1875); 1893, pp. 9ff (for 1890); 1914, pp. 12ff (for 1910).

Original German table reprinted in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka, and Gerhard Ritter, eds., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch: Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreichs 1870-1914 [Social History Workbook: Materials on Kaiserreich Statistics 1870-1914], vol. 2. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1975, pp. 45-46.

Translation: Thomas Dunlap

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