The economic integration of expellees and their effects on the West Germany economy, 1945-70

The displacement of Germans from Eastern Europe during and after World War II is one of the largest forced population movements in history. At least 12 million Germans fled or were expelled, most of them from the eastern territories of pre-war Germany. The enormous inflow of expellees (Heimatvertriebene) caused a drastic increase in the population of West Germany. By September 1950, every sixth West German resident was an expellee. As part of the project “Die volkswirtschaftlichen Effekte der Vertriebenen und ihre Integration in Westdeutschland, 1945-70”, we have collected detailed county-level data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of expellees (Heimatvertriebene) and non-expellees in West Germany after World War II. The corner stone of the database is the occupation and population census of 1950. Other data sources include the census of 1939, 1946 and 1961. Sources are listed in each spreadsheet. By downloading the data, you assume full responsibility for their use. Please get in touch if you think that you have discovered a digitization error.<br>