German Empire: Population of the States

[Dave Danner]

In a thread on Reuss last year, I had set forth the population of the various states of the German Empire in order from largest to smallest. This was based on 1905 data. Thanks to another source, I now have data from the Kaiserliches Statistisches Amt, Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, for 1914, the year World War I began.

Hopefully, this will be of some use/interest in comparing things like the relative contributions of the various states, the relative rarity of awards, etc.

• K?nigreich Preu?en - 42,103,000
• K?nigreich Bayern - 7,128,000
• K?nigreich Sachsen - 4,986,000
• K?nigreich W?rttemberg - 2,531,000
• Gro?herzogtum Baden - 2,234,000
• Gro?herzogtum Hessen-Darmstadt - 1,333,000
• Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg - 1,099,000
• Gro?herzogtum Mecklenburg-Schwerin - 648,000
• Herzogtum Braunschweig - 500,000
• Gro?herzogtum Oldenburg - 516,000
• Gro?herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach - 441,875
• Herzogtum Anhalt - 333,000
• Freie Hansestadt Bremen - 326,000
• Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen - 287,000
• Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha - 266,000
• Reu?ische F?rstent?mer - 231,000 (Reu? ?ltere Linie - 74,000; Reu? j?ngere Linie - 157,000)
• Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg - 222,000
• Schwarzburgische F?rstent?mer - 196,000 (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt - 103,000; Schwarzburg-Sondershausen - 93,000)
• F?rstentum Lippe-Detmold - 154,000
• Freie und Hansestadt L?beck - 122,000
• Gro?herzogtum Mecklenburg-Strelitz - 108,000
• F?rstentum Waldeck - 63,000
• F?rstentum Schaumburg-Lippe - 48,000

The main difference from the 1905 list is that Bremen passed Saxe-Meiningen in population in 1907. Given Bremen's much higher growth rate, it also likely passed Anhalt in 1916.

Add in the Reichsland Elsa?-Lothringen, with a population of 1,920,000, and the 1914 population of the Reich was 67,795,875.

Also useful may be a breakdown of the provinces of Prussia, given its size:

• Rheinprovinz - 7,577,000
• Provinz Brandenburg (mit Berlin) - 6,541,000
• Provinz Schlesien - 5,429,000
• Provinz Westfalen - 4,472,000
• Provinz Sachsen - 3,158,000
• Provinz Hannover - 3,068,000
• Provinz Hessen-Nassau - 2,323,000
• Provinz Posen - 2,176,000
• Provinz Ostpreu?en - 2,094,000
• Provinz Westpreu?en - 1,756,000
• Provinz Pommern - 1,738,000
• Provinz Schleswig-Holstein - 1,699,000
• Regierungsbezirk Hohenzollernsche Lande - 72,000

[Chip]

Dave,

Very interesting information. Thanks for posting it.

Chip

[joerookery]

Thanks for posting that! I will go back and look at what years I have been using.

PS -- do you have a map it's that shows the geography well of the Hessian actions 1866-1867? I'm closing in on an Austrian source but the Hesse Homburg,Kassel, and Nassau thing I do not yet have. Thanks again.

[Dave Danner]

Maps? Do you mean something specific relating to the war, or the geography of the Hessian states in general?

http://www.ieg-maps.uni-mainz.de/map1-1.htm

Edited March 24, 2007 by Dave Danner

[joerookery]

thank you thank you! That is perfect - exactly what I was looking for. I guess I just didn't look at that site. Thank you very much.

[Mike Dwyer]

Dave,

Thanks for the fantastic information.

As to the maps, I find all this a bit odd to me. When I think of countries, provinces, etc. I think of a mass of land that all together, but these German states that have a big chunk of land here, a little piece several miles away, another piece waaayyyy over there, I guess I'm just not used to that type of system.

[Dave Danner]

Dave,

Thanks for the fantastic information.

As to the maps, I find all this a bit odd to me. When I think of countries, provinces, etc. I think of a mass of land that all together, but these German states that have a big chunk of land here, a little piece several miles away, another piece waaayyyy over there, I guess I'm just not used to that type of system.

Hell, you think that's a mess, look at it before Napoleon brought down the Holy Roman Empire:

http://www.pantel-web.de/bw_mirror/maps/d1789.jpg

Or even further back, during the reign of Emperor Charles V:

http://www.pantel-web.de/bw_mirror/maps/d1547.jpg

Another good selection of maps: http://www.pantel-web.de/bw_mirror/maps/maps.htm

[Roeland]

Nice info!

I'm wondering....

does anybody have the numbers from the period after the 1st WW?

It would be nice to see if there is a huge difference with some states before and after the war.

[Dave Danner]

Nice info!

I'm wondering....

does anybody have the numbers from the period after the 1st WW?

It would be nice to see if there is a huge difference with some states before and after the war.

The first post-war census was conducted beginning 8 October 1919. I don't have the results of that census. There are some websites that have population statistics for states of the Weimar Republic at various times in the 1920s. However, there are certain caveats that must be kept in mind:

Most of the Thuringian states were combined into a single state - Freistaat Th?ringen - on 1 May 1920. However, the city and Landkreis of Coburg, a part of the former Duchy of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, was joined with the Freistaat Bayern on 1 July 1920, where it remains today (it thus appears to be a myth that the British royal family acted to join Coburg with Bavaria in the U.S. occupation zone in 1944-45 to keep the Windsor's ancestral homeland from falling into Soviet hands).

Kreis Pyrmont was separated from the Freistaat and former Principality of Waldeck on 30 November 1921 and joined with the Provinz Hannover. On 1 May 1929, the rest of Freistaat Waldeck was absorbed by the Provinz Hessen-Nassau. Both provinces were part of the Freistaat Preu?en.

Most importantly, however, the Reichsland Elsa?-Lothringen was lost to France, as well as Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium, the Memelgebiet to Lithuania, the Hluč?n Region (Hultschiner L?ndchen) to Czechoslovakia, the majority of Provinz Posen and Provinz Westpreu?en and smaller chunks of Provinz Ostpreu?en and Provinz Schlesien to Poland, and Nordschleswig to Denmark. Danzig became the Freie Stadt Danzig. This resulted in large displacements of population, which will skewer any "before and after" statistics.

[Roeland]

You are absolutely right Dave!

I didn't even think of that!