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Wealth and its Distribution in Germany, 1895-2018

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  • Albers, Thilo
  • Bartels, Charlotte
  • Schularick, Moritz

Abstract

German history over the past 125 years has been turbulent. Marked by two world wars, revolutions and major regime changes, as well as a hyperinflation and three currency reforms, expropriations and territorial divisions, it provides unique insights into the role of country-specific shocks in shaping long-run wealth dynamics. This paper presents the first comprehensive study of wealth and its distribution in Germany since the 19th century. We combine tax and archival data, household surveys, historical national accounts, and rich lists to analyze the evolution of the German wealth distribution over the long run. We show that the top-1% wealth share has fallen by half, from close to 50% in 1895 to 27% today. Nearly all of this decline was the result of changes that occurred between 1914 and 1952. The interwar period and the wealth taxation in the aftermath of World War II stand out as the great equalizers in 20th century German history. After unification in 1990, two trends have left their mark on the German wealth distribution. Households at the top made substantial capital gains from rising business wealth while the middle-class had large capital gains in the housing market. The wealth share of the bottom 50% halved since 1990. Our findings speak to the importance of historical shocks to the distribution and valuations of existing wealth in explaining the evolution of the wealth distribution over the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Albers, Thilo & Bartels, Charlotte & Schularick, Moritz, 2022. "Wealth and its Distribution in Germany, 1895-2018," CEPR Discussion Papers 17269, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17269
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    2. Daniel Graeber & Viola Hilbert & Johannes König, 2023. "Inequality of Opportunity in Wealth: Levels, Trends, and Drivers," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1193, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Bellani, Luna & Berriochoa, Kattalina & Kapteina, Mark & Schwerdt, Guido, 2024. "Information Provision and Support for Inheritance Taxation: Evidence from a Representative Survey Experiment in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 17099, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Happel, Jonas & Karabulut, Yigitcan & Schäfer, Larissa & Tüzel, Şelale, 2024. "Shattered housing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    5. Kapeller, Jakob & Leitch, Stuart & Wildauer, Rafael, 2023. "Can a European wealth tax close the green investment gap?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    6. Christopher Mantzaris & Ajda Fošner, 2024. "Germany's Tax Revenue and its Total Administrative Cost," Post-Print hal-04792276, HAL.
    7. Becker, Bastian & Waitkus, Nora, 2025. "Undeserving heirs: how the origins of wealth shape attitudes towards redistribution," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Elisa Stumpf & Silke Uebelmesser, 2024. "Lifting the Veil of Ignorance – Survey Experiments on Preferences for Wealth Redistribution," CESifo Working Paper Series 11126, CESifo.
    9. Mejd Aures BENLALA, 2022. "The Characterization of the Demand Deposit as a Loan under Fractional Reserve Banking: A Critical Legal Analysis," Perspectives of Law and Public Administration, Societatea de Stiinte Juridice si Administrative (Society of Juridical and Administrative Sciences), vol. 11(4), pages 638-649, December.
    10. Thilo N. H. Albers & Felix Kersting & Timo Stieglitz, 2023. "Industrialization, Returns, Inequality," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 462, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    11. Jakob Kapeller & Stefan Steinerberger, 2025. "Why are there so many power laws in economics?," ICAE Working Papers 160, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    12. Wang, Xusheng & Cheng, Tao & Hong, Haoliang & Guo, Hangzuo & Lin, Xi & Yang, Xue & Nie, Binjian & Hu, Zhigang & Zou, Jianxin, 2025. "Challenges and opportunities in hydrogen storage and transportation: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    13. Peter Haan & Daniel Kemptner & Victoria Prowse & Maximilian Schaller, 2025. "Insurance, redistribution, and the inequality of lifetime income," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 16(2), pages 565-613, May.
    14. Christopher Mantzaris & Ajda Fov{s}ner, 2024. "Germany's Tax Revenue and its Total Administrative Cost," Papers 2411.12543, arXiv.org.
    15. Hanley, Brenda J. & Carstensen, Michelle & Walsh, Daniel P. & Christensen, Sonja A. & Storm, Daniel J. & Booth, James G. & Guinness, Joseph & Them, Cara E. & Ahmed, Md Sohel & Schuler, Krysten L., 2022. "Informing Surveillance through the Characterization of Outbreak Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 471(C).
    16. Maria Coelho & Aieshwarya Davis & Alexander Klemm & Carolina Osorio-Buitron, 2024. "Gendered taxes: the interaction of tax policy with gender equality," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(5), pages 1413-1460, October.
    17. Kovács, Olivér, 2023. "Fiskális politika az öröklétnek - államadósság: ördög vagy messiás?* Olivier Blanchard: Fiscal Policy Under Low Interest Rates. MIT Press, 2023, 192 o [Fiscal policy for eternity - public dept: dev," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 103-110.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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