Earlier censuses in Germany
Since the first all-German population census took place in 1871, censuses have been conducted more or less regularly in Germany. What has been added to population censuses is censuses of occupations, housing and buildings, which – especially in the recent past – were held simultaneously in order to reduce both the overall workload and costs. The latest all-German census was conducted in 1946; afterwards separate censuses were held in East and West Germany. The latest surveys of the population number were conducted in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1981 and, following several delays, in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1987. Also, a census of buildings and housing was held in the new Länder and Berlin-East in 1995.
1981: Census of population, occupations, housing and buildings in the GDR
In the former GDR, four population censuses were held between 1950 and 1981. The two censuses of 1971 and 1981 were complex censuses of population, occupations, buildings and housing. They provided a complete stocktaking of the population number and structure, the number and structure of households, labour force participation, occupational structure, and the stock of buildings and dwellings.
The 1981 census was organised by the Central Statistical Board and conducted by the regional and district census offices. Every municipality set up organisation offices and the enumerators were voluntary staff. The questionnaires were distributed from 28 to 31 December 1980 and the enumerators collected them by 4 January 1981 while checking completeness. When distributing the census lists, the enumerators were required to give information on how to fill in the questionnaires, to answer questions and to help in completing the lists where necessary.
The population number determined differed just marginally (by 0.2 percent) from the provisional updated population number.
The census of housing and buildings provided information on under-occupied and over-occupied dwellings as well as on the joint occupation of a dwelling by several households. Slightly more than one third of the dwellings had a modern heating system at the time and two thirds had a bathroom or shower. The dwelling size averaged 63 square metres, while ten years earlier it had been 58 square metres. Today, an »average dwelling« in the new Länder has 72 square metres and in the former territory of the Federal Republic 89 square metres.
1987: Census of population, occupations, buildings and housing in the FRG
Following the population censuses of 1961 and 1970, another census was planned for 1981 in accordance with the ten-year cycle. As it was not clear how the costs should be distributed between the Federation and the Länder, the census had to be postponed and the population census law adopted in 1982 scheduled a census for 1983. However, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that some items of the law were unconstitutional so that the law had to be revised. In 1987, the census of population, occupations, buildings and housing was conducted in the FRG.
The 1987 population census attracted much attention in the general public. It ranged from objective discussions to calls for boycott. What was discussed already at that time was not only the question of the general benefit of a population census but also the demand that data available in administrative registers should be used. However, because of doubts regarding the quality of the population registers and because of the insufficient technology available at the time, using administrative registers was not an option then. Consequently, in 1987 a conventional interview-based survey was conducted. Anyone living in Germany filled in a questionnaire by himself/herself or together with the interviewer and returned it either to the interviewer or to one of the municipal survey offices specially set up.
There were large differences between the census results and the updated figures. For part of the municipalities, the number of inhabitants had to be corrected considerably. The changes required for the financial allocations of the Länder and municipalities exceeded the one-billion threshold. The census of buildings and housing, too, revealed discrepancies between updated figures and reality: The number of dwellings actually available in Germany was by one million smaller than shown by the updated figures.
1995: Census of buildings and housing in the new Länder and Berlin-East
The results of the 1981 census of population, occupations, housing and buildings in the GDR were the basis for updating, which is done through notifications of units added or withdrawn in the housing sector. Before, only dwellings had been updated, not buildings. Also, the withdrawal of units was never completely registered for political reasons. For two reasons it was urgent to hold a census in the new Länder: The uncertainties regarding the quality of the updated dwelling stock figures and the goal to create a basis for uniform updating of stock figures all over Germany, which should be used, among other things, as a sampling frame for future sample surveys.
An issue to be covered in addition to the usual items of censuses of buildings and housing was the visual appearance of the state of preservation of building parts. This included the base of the building, outer walls, staircase, roof structure, roof covering and drainage, chimney, waste water disposal, type of heating and type of energy, type of ownership on 2 October 1990 (state-owned, co-operative, private). The questions were addressed to all owners of the buildings rather than the tenants as is usually the case.
The results of the census of buildings and housing, which were available already one year later, showed a difference of less than three percent compared with the updated figures for dwellings. The detailed results show that 6.6 percent of the dwellings were not occupied. 30 percent of the residential buildings with 28 percent of the dwellings were in perfect constructional condition, while in five percent of all buildings at least one important part had serious damages. The share of owner-occupied dwellings had risen from 23 percent in 1981 to over 27 percent in 1995.