Social Background of German Elites and Members of the Clergy (1800-1919) Social mobility was an essential component of German economic development. While some successful businessmen came from the middle or lower strata of German society, the great majority came from the upper echelons, being the sons of lawyers, doctors, and professors (generally included among the educated middle classes or Bildungsbürgertum). As the second table shows (next page), the sons of workers and lower officials were rarely appointed to the clergy. One exception to the national pattern, however, was the Catholic southwest (Württemberg), where many priests came from lower-middle-class backgrounds.
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page 1 of 2 I. Social Background of Members of the Elite Classes (Entrepreneurs and University Teachers) a) of important entrepreneurs (1) b) of university teachers (2) Father's profession 1800-1870 NDB (1) (%) 1871-1914 NDB (1) (%) 1860-1889 (%) 1890-1919 (%) Higher civil servants 4 6 11 11 Officers 1 - 2 2 University teachers }2 }2 16 11 Teachers (higher schools) 6 7 Clergy 3 1 11 6 Lawyers - 1 2 2 Physicians, pharmacists (a) 1 2 14 10 Artists and journalistic professions - - 3 2 Large landowners 2 2 2 1 Entrepreneurs (b) 54 53 6 12 Higher strata 67 67 73 64 Artisans, retailers, tavern-keepers 23 20 13 19 Farmers 2 4 5 4 Mid-level/ lower civil servants 5 6 3 5 Salaried employees/ foremen 1 2 - - Workers - - 2 2 Teacher - 1 4 4 Middle / lower strata 31 33 27 34 Number of cases 235 297 1,273 3,012 1) The compilation is based on the eight published volumes of Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) [New German Biography]. These volumes, however, only include the leading entrepreneurs or those also active in leadership positions in other areas. 2) Kaelble calculates his data on the basis of Christian Ferber, "Die Entwicklung des Lehrkörpers der deutschen Universitäten und Hochschulen 1864-1954," in Helmuth Plessner, ed., Untersuchungen zur Lage der deutschen Hochschullehrer, vol. 3. (Göttingen, 1956), p. 178. The university teachers included in the data were Habilitation cohorts. 3) Calculated on the basis of the background of theology students. a. Also: veterinarians, chemists, architects, engineers. b. Here: industrialists and wholesalers. "Merchants" were assigned to the first position of the middle class, since the majority of them were most likely small-scale trades-people. c. These are estimates. It is only after 1900 that university statistics in Prussia divide self-employed trades-people into entrepreneurs, on the one hand, and artisans, retailers, etc., on the other hand. The average ratios from 1901-1911 (physicians: 29% entrepreneurial fathers vs. 71% fathers from the commercial middle class; teachers at higher schools: 26% to 74%) are posited here as the most favorable approximation.
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