Maps Population Regents
 
  POPULATION:
 
  British Isles
  Western Europe

  Benelux
  Scandinavia
  Germany
  Central Europe
  Italy
  Baltic States
  Eastern Europe
  Western Balkans
  Eastern Balkans

  _____________________
 
  Swedish Counties
 

Örjan Martinsson

The question "what is Germany" have different answers depending on which time period you are referring to. No German state existed at the time of the birth of Christ but the area populated by Germans probably had a population of four millions. The predecessor of the modern German federation was the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, which also included several other modern states like Austria, Belgium and the Czech republic. The Empire was dissolved 1806 and the German Confederation was created in its place 1815. It was this Confederation that was regarded as Germany during most of the 19th century but the statistics below from that century refer only to the area that became the unified Germany 1871.

Germany
(within historical borders)
Germany
 (within the borders of 1871)
0
1200
1350
(4.0)
8.0
12.0
1816
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870

22,4
26.1
29.4
32.6
35.3
37.6
40.8

1500
1600
1650
12.0
15.0
10.0
1700
1750
1800
15.0
17.0
25.0

German "Reich"
(including Saarland 1919-1935)
1871
1880
1890
1900
41.1
45.2
49.4
56.4

 

1910 64.9 (58.5 within the borders of 1919)
1913
1922
1930
67.0
61.9
65.1
 
1933 66.0 (65.2 without Saarland)
1939 79.8 (69.5 within the borders of 1937)
1939 87.1 (including Bohemia-Moravia)

West Germany

East Germany
1939 43.0

1939

16,7

1946 46.6 1946 18.5
1950 50.8 1950 18.4
1960 55.4 1960 17.2
1970 60.7 1970 17.1
1980 61.6 1980 16.7
1988 61.4 1988 16.7

Federal Republic of Germany
  1990 79.4  
2000 82.2
2010 81.8
2020 83.2

The population statistics below cover various historical states and modern part states that have existed in Germany.  During the Thirty Years War was Württemberg's population reduced from 450 000 in 1620 to just 100 000 in 1639. Hanover had a population of 200 000 in 1689. Brandenburg-Prussia had a population of 0.6 million in 1648 and it reached 1,5 million in 1700. Prussia expanded its territory greatly during the eighteenth century and had a population of 9,7 millions in 1806. But that year ended in disaster when Prussia was defeated by Napoleon. In the peace of 1807 was Prussia reduced to a territory that had only 4,9 million inhabitants. Prussia's status as a great power was however restored at the Congress in Vienna 1815.

Member States of the German Confederation
(population in thousands)

  1816 1828 1834 1840 1852 1861 1864
Prussia
Bavaria
Saxony
10 349
3 655
1 190
12 726
4 088
1 373
13 510
4 247
1 596
14 929
4 371
1 706
16 935
4 559
1 988
18 491
4 690
2 225
19 255
4 807
2 337
Württemberg
Baden
Hessen-Darmstadt
Thuringian States
1 411
1 006
607
709
1 549
1 176
718
802
1 570
1 231
761
855
1 646
1 296
812
896
1 733
1 362
854
960
1 721
1 373
857
1 004
1 748
1 432
853
1 035
Schleswig-Holstein
Other States A
Other States B

2 154
1 491

2 617
1 596

2 793
1 676
849
2 960
1 766
969
3 104
1 918
1 004
3 193
2 013
1 010
3 257
2 068
Germany 22.4 26.6 28.2 30.4 33.4 35.6 37.8

Thuringian States = Sachsen-Weimar, Sachsen-Meiningen, Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Gera och Reuss-Greiz.
Schleswig-Holstein = The population was 889 in 1845 . The figures for 1852 and 1861 refers to 1855 and 1860 respectively.
Other States A = States that were conquered by Prussia in 1866, i.e. Hanover, Hessen-Kassel, Nassau, Hessen-Homburg and Frankfurt.
Other States  B = Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck.
Germany  = The population figures refers to Germany within the borders of 1871 but excluding  Schleswig-Holstein and Alsace-Lorraine.

Part States of the German "Reich"
(population in thousands)

1871 1880 1890 1900 1910 1925 1933 1939
Prussia 24 689 27 279 29 957 34 473 40 165 38 176 39 934 41 334
Bavaria 4 863 5 285 5 595 6 176 6 887 7 380 7 682 8 223
Saxony 2 556 2 973 3 503 4 202 4 807 4 994 5 197 5 232
Württemberg 1 819 1 971 2 037 2 169 2 438 2 580 2 696 2 897
Baden 1 462 1 570 1 658 1 868 2 143 2 312 2 413 2 502
Hessen 853 936 993 1 120 1 282 1 347 1 429 1 469
Mecklenburg 655 677 676 711 746 784 805 900
Oldenburg 317 337 355 399 483 545 574 578
Brunswick 312 349 404 465 494 502 513 603
Bremen 122 157 180 225 300 339 372 450
Hamburg 339 454 623 768 1 015 1 153 1 218 1 712
Thuringia 1 067 1 170 1 272 1 420 1 586 1 607 1 660 1 744
Alsace-Lorraine 1 550 1 567 1 604 1 719 1 874      
Saarland           770 812 842
Other States 454 509 574 653 708 691 726 671
Germany 41.1 45.2 49.4 56.4 64.9 63.2 66.0 69.5

Mecklenburg was until 1934 divided in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Thuringia
was until 1920 divided in the states Sachsen-Weimar, Sachsen-Meiningen, Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Gera and Reuss-Greiz.
Other States = Anhalt, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, and with the exception of 1939 Lübeck.

Prussian Provinces

  1864 1871 1880 1890 1900 1910 1910 1925 1933 1939
East Prussia 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.2
West Prussia 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.7 0.3 0.3 0.3  
Posen 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.1        
Pomerania 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.9 1.9 2.4
Berlin 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.6 1.9 2.1 3.7 4.0 4.2 4.3
Brandenburg 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.5 3.1 4.1 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.0
Silesia 3.5 3.7 4.0 4.2 4.7 5.2 4.3 4.5 4.7 4.9
Saxony 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.6 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.4 3.6
Schleswig-Holst. 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6
Hannover 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.3 2,6 2.9 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.5
Westfalen 1.7 1.8 2.0 2,4 3.2 4.1 4.1 4.8 5.0 5.2
Hessen-Nassau 1.4 1.4 1.6 1,7 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7
Rheinland 3.4 3.6 4.1 4,7 5.8 7.1 6.5 7.2 7.6 7.9
Hohenzollern 0.1 0.1 0.1 0,1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Prussia 23.6 24.7 27.3 30.0 34.5 40.2 35.1 38.2 40.0 41.3

The statistics refers to the population within the borders of 1871 to 1910, the second series for 1910 and the following series refers to the interwar borders.

Modern German Part States

West Germany

1939 1946 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Schleswig-Holstein
Hamburg
Niedersachsen
Bremen
1.6
1.7
4.5
0.6
2.6
1.4
6.2
0.5
2.6
1.6
6.8
0.6
2.3
1.8
6.6
0.7
2.5
1.8
7.1
0.7
2.6
1.7
7.2
0.7
2.6
1.6
7.4
0.7
2.8
1.7
7.9
0.7
2.8
1.8
7.9
0.7
2.9
1.9
8.0
0.7
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Hessen
Rheinland-Pfalz
11.9
3.5
3.0
11.7
4.0
2.7
13.2
4.3
3.0
15.9
4.8
3.4
16.9
5.4
3.6
17.0
5.6
3.6
17.2
5.7
3.7
18.0
6.1
4.0
17.8
6.1
4.0
17.9
6.3
4.1
Baden-Württemberg
Bavaria
Saarland
(West-) Berlin
5.5
7.1
0.9
2.8
5.8
8.8
0.9
2.0
6.4
9.2
0.9
2.1
7.7
9.5
1.1
2.2
8.9
10.5
1.1
2.1
9.2
10.9
1.1
1.9
9.7
11.3
1.1
3.4
10.5
12.2
1.1
3.4
10.8
12.8
1.0
3.5
11.1
13.1
1.0
3.7


East Germany


1939

1946

1950

1964

1971

1981

1990
2000
20
10

2020
East Berlin
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Brandenburg

1.6
1.6
2.5

1.2
2.3
2.6
1.2
2.3
2.7
1.1
2.1
2.7
1.1
2.1
2.7
1.2
2.1
2.7

1.9
2.6

1.8
2.6

1.6
2.5

1.6
2.5
Sachsen-Anhalt
Thuringia
Saxony
3.1
2.3
5.7
3.7
2.8
5.8
3.6
2.7
5.9
3.3
2.5
5.5
3.2
2.5
5.3
3.1
2.5
5.1
2.9
2.6
4.8
2.6
2.4
4.4
2.3
2.2
4.1
2.2
2.1
4.1