Organization of German Agriculture (1882 and 1907)
The course of industrialization also changed the patterns of production in the countryside. While historical differences account for the prevalence of smaller farms in the western regions of Germany, the overall concentration of farmland increased rapidly as the result of urbanization and the reorganization of agriculture for the industrial age.
Number of farms, classified according to farm size, across the territory of the German Reich in 1882 and 1907 (in thousands and percent of total farm operations)
Classification of farm size
1882
1907
1,000
%
1,000
%
under
2 hectares (ha)
3,062
58.0
3,379
58.9
2- 5 ha
981
18.6
1,006
17.6
5- 20 ha
927
17.6
1,066
18.5
20- 100 ha
282
5.3
262
4.6
above 100 ha
25
0.5
24
0.4
total
5,277
100.0
5,737
100.0
Source: Hermann Aubin and Wolfgang Zorn, eds., Handbuch der deutschen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte [Handbook of German Economic and Social History]. Stuttgart, 1971-76, vol. 2, p. 512.