Abstract

Between 1849 and 1913, traditional industries like textiles and leather goods grew in proportion to the economy and population. It was the new branches of industry (e.g. coal, steel, and chemicals) that offered the most new employment opportunities.

Industrial Employment (1849–1913)

Source

I. Employees in mining, industry, and trades (1849-1913), according to industrial sector (in thousands)

Year	Mining and salt works	Pit and quarry industry	Metal pro-duction	Metal pro-cessing	Chemical industry	Textile industry	Leather pro-duction	Clothing industry and leather pro-cessing	Wood pro-cessing	Paper pro-duction and pro-cessing	Printing trades	Jewelry/toys; musical industry	Food, beverages,and tobacco	Gas, water, and power supply	Building trades	Total
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
in thousands
1849	95	142	43	290	24	789	33	816	356	23	18	31	493	1	337	3,491
1855	157	183	66	337	29	825	34	845	382	37	19	41	523	4	384	3,866
1860	167
1865	209
1870	224															5,017 (= 1,871)
1875	286	333	150	601	65	926	44	1,078	522	84	46	83	676	15	530	5,439
1880	297	382	142	644		914										5,801
1885	345	414	173	690	94	905	47	1,309	599	112	69	101	827	17	648	6,350
1890	398	609	216	932	123	987	55	1,398	674	141	82	119	933	23	1,045	7,735
1895	432	595	225	964	138	992	56	1,392	679	161	116	125	1,029	27	1,025	7,956
1900	575	784	314	1,394	177	1,030	59	1,522	811	195	146	144	1,092	43	1,239	9,525
1905	665	786	351	1,459	207	1,055	59	1,524	882	221	176	162	1,199	61	1,430	10,237
1910	816	760	394	1,647	240	1,098	59	1,549	896	257	202	183	1,287	82	1,530	11,000
1913	863	752	443	1,887	290	1,101	60	1,544	924	282	224	197	1,427	96	1,630	11,720

II. The structure of employees according to economic subgroups within mining, salt works, industry, and trades 1846-1913

(in percent)

Period	Mining and salt works	Pit and quarry industry	Metal pro-duction	Metal pro-cessing	Chemical industry	Textile industry	Leather pro-duction	Clothing industry and leather pro-cessing	Pro-cessing of wood and carving materials	Paper pro-duction and pro-cessing	Printing trades	Industry of jewelry, toys, and musical instru-ments	Food, beverages, and tobacco	Gas, water, and power supply	Building trades	Total
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
in %
1846/ 61	3.6 (a)	4.8	1.6	8.8	0.8	20.2	0.9	22.7	10.1	0.9	0.5	1.1	13.8	0.1	10.2	3,814
1875	5.3	6.2	2.7	11.1	1.2	17.1	0.9	19.8	9.6	1.5	0.9	1.5	12.4	0.3	9.8	5,439
1882/ 90	4.8 (b)	6.9	2.8	11.2	1.5	13.4	0.8	19.7	9.5	1.8	1.1	1.6	12.5	0.3	12.1	6,845
1891/ 1900	5.3 (c)	7.8	2.9	13.0	1.8	11.9	0.7	16.9	8.6	2.0	1.4	1.5	12.3	0.4	13.3	8,370
1901/ 10	6.6 (d)	7.5	3.4	14.4	2.1	10.3	0.6	14.9	8.4	2.2	1.8	1.6	11.9	0.7	13.7	10,210
1911/ 13	7.4( e)	6.7	3.7	15.7	2.3	9.5	0.5	13.3	8.1	2.4	1.9	1.7	11.8	0.8	14.4	11,599

(a) 1849/58, (b) 1880/84 and 1885/89, (c) 1890/94 and 1895/99, (d) 1900/04 and 1905/09, (e) 1910/13

Source: Hermann Aubin and Wolfgang Zorn, eds., Handbuch der deutschen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte. Stuttgart, 1971–76, vol. 2, p. 535.

Translation: Erwin Fink

Recommended Citation

Industrial Employment (1849–1913), published in: German History in Documents and Images, <https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/wilhelmine-germany-and-the-first-world-war-1890-1918/ghdi:document-639> [September 26, 2025].