German Census Chatter

When you bring up Census in Germany, it always goes into a comical chat, with most Germans shaking their heads.

You can find records of individual cities having a Census all the way back to 1471 (Nuremberg).  You can find the Prussians conducting a Census for Germany from 1844 all the way to the end of WW I (1917).  The Weimar Republic restarted the Census in 1919, and it continued through the Nazi years and to the end of WW II. 

After the war?  Well, the West German government restarted the Census in 1950, and the law was written to have one every five years.  1956 and 1961 Census events occurred, without much trouble.

As you get into the 1970s era.....questions began to arise over the questions used in the Census.....so challenges occurred (either through the Bundestag or via the court system). After 1961's Census....it was nine years before the next Census (1970).  More challenges came after that Census....with the next one completed in 1987. 

After the reunification in the 1990/1991 era....a unified Germany wanted to complete another Census, and ran into more legal woes (over the questions)......so that got delayed until 2011 (yes, over twenty years later).

Normally, the fight would continue on, with the odds of another Census being 20 to 30 years away because of challenges.  However, the EU wrote a law that mandates a Census 'must' occur. 

So ARD (public German TV, Channel One) wrote up the story on the latest attempt that will be tried (said to be scheduled for 2021).

To get this approved, both the SPD and CDU political parties (the coalition) agreed to some basic simple rules, and both signed off.  The emphasis of the 2021 Census?  Employment and housing.  NO religious information will be collected. 

Why the national trend to be hostile or anti-Census?  Germans, in general, hate personal questions being directed at them from strangers or government entities.  If you just had three simple questions at the door: (1) how many people reside here, (2) what are their ages, and (3) how many are gainfully employed (either full-time or part-time)......then the bulk of Germans would just accept that.  But if you went to the next step and asked if the couple there were married or just living together.....or asking if they had cars....or asked the education level of residents....or asked if you originally grew up in this region, then the line would be crossed and the Census would be viewed as a 'bad thing'.

The truth is that the Census bureaucracy in Germany (the national statistics office) would like to ask 300-odd questions and lay out 15,000 pages of statistical data related to each town....each state....and the nation.  They'd like to ask if you have pets (dogs or cats)....if you ride to work via a car or public transportation....if you make more or less than the national salary average....and if you are within 10-percent of your ideal weight.  That line of questions would freak out more than half of German society.

As for the national population number changing?  No.  Zero percent chance of that.  German law dictates that you have to go and register as you move into a town (at the city hall).  It's not a 'if' situation....it's mandated that you register, and by this method....a city can be reasonably sure (say near 99-percent) that their population data is pretty correct.  Homeless folks or unregistered migrants/immigrants?  Well....that's the other mystery part to the story, you can't really be sure.  In the city of Wiesbaden, there might be 100 folks living under bridges, and simply not registered.  In Frankfurt, it might be closer to 1,500 folks living under bridges.