Berlinfographicsby Berlin Experiences

1871–2024Berlin’s population

Eighty-five years on, Berlin still has 653,000 fewer people than in 1939

The census of 17 May 1939 counted 4,338,756 Berliners — more than at any count before or since. Six years later a third of them were gone. The official count for 31 December 2024 is 3,685,265: the city has still not made up what the war took.

Scroll through the census years

Alexanderplatz, about 1910: electric trams, carriages and pedestrians in front of the Grand Hotel.Unknown author, 1890. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

011871–1910

In 39 years the capital grew 2.5 times over

When Berlin became the capital of the new German Empire, the census of 1 December 1871 counted 826,341 people. By 1900 there were 1,888,848, and the census of 1 December 1910 passed two million: 2,071,257.

These are counts for the city of the day — the old municipality, before its suburbs were joined to it. Charlottenburg and Rixdorf — later Neukölln — were still towns of their own.

0.83 M
census, 1871
2.07 M
census, 1910
×2.5
growth in 39 years
An old postcard of a long shopping street with tall ornate buildings, a tram in the foreground and horse-drawn carts.
Leipziger Straße at the corner of Friedrichstraße, on a postcard sent in 1904 (the sender’s signature is written across it).Unknown author, 1900. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A black-and-white aerial photograph of dense city blocks around an octagonal square, with a park to the right.
Leipziger Platz and Potsdamer Platz from the air, about 1920.U.S. Army Air Forces photo 18-AA-170-45B, 1920. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

02Every count, one line

17 counts across 153 years — and only one ever reached 4.34 M

1871–2024every count, as you scrollcounts17
Berlin’s population at every count from 1871 to 2024, drawn as a line that extends as you read. A dashed line marks the 1939 census; the gap between it and the 2024 count is bracketed at the end.
A painted ceremony in a mirrored hall: uniformed officers raise swords and cheer towards a king standing on a dais.
The proclamation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, 18 January 1871, after Anton von Werner’s painting. Berlin became the new empire’s capital.Reproduction after Anton von Werner. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

1871

1871: a capital of 826,341

Capital of unified Germany. The census of 1 December 1871 counted 826,341 people.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin · Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich / für den Preußischen Staat

A busy black-and-white city square: tram cars under overhead wires, horse carriages, people crossing, a tall church spire behind a grand hotel.
Alexanderplatz, about 1910: electric trams, carriages and pedestrians in front of the Grand Hotel.Unknown author, 1890. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

1910

1910: past two million

The census of 1 December 1910: 2,071,257 — 2.5 times the 1871 count, inside the old city boundary.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin · Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich / für den Preußischen Staat

A map of Berlin divided into twenty numbered districts; six small dark districts sit in the middle of a much larger pale area.
Berlin and its twenty districts under the law of 27 April 1920. The six dark districts in the middle were the old city; everything around them was added. Map by Paul Wittig, 1930.Paul Wittig, 1930. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

1920

1920: the city doubles at the stroke of a pen

The Greater Berlin Act, in force from 1 October 1920, joined Berlin with 7 towns, 59 rural communities and 27 estate districts. From 1,928,432 at the end of 1919 to 3,879,409 at the end of 1920 — without anyone moving.

Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, 100 Jahre Groß-Berlin (2020) · de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin

A black-and-white street scene: cars and a tram in front of a tall church spire and a cinema façade, with a newspaper stall in the foreground.
Hardenbergstraße with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Gloria-Palast cinema, November 1935: cars, trams and a news-stand selling the Nazi party papers.Willem van de Poll, 1935. Wikimedia Commons. CC0.

1939

1939: the highest census count, ever

The census of 17 May 1939 counted 4,338,756. The wartime register later showed 4,478,102 for 31 December 1942, but the statistics office says that figure was inflated by people who left without deregistering.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin · Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich / für den Preußischen Staat · Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, 100 Jahre Groß-Berlin (2020) · de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin

A street filled with rubble, two burnt-out vans, and the shattered columns of a building.
Mohrenstraße after the air raid of 3 February 1945: rubble and burnt-out vehicles. Original Bundesarchiv caption.Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J31347 / Unknown / CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1945

1945: a third of the city gone

The census of 12 August 1945 counted 2,807,405 — 1,531,351 fewer than in 1939, a fall of 35 %.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin · Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich / für den Preußischen Staat

Workers with cranes laying concrete blocks along a wall in winter fog.
East German construction workers building the Wall, November 1961.U.S. National Archives, 1961. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

1989

1950–1989: two cities, one flat line

Counted together, West and East Berlin stayed between 3.05 M (1980) and 3.41 M (1989). The Wall went up in 1961 and fell in 1989.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin

A colour aerial view of a vast city of apartment blocks and green space under a blue sky with clouds, flat to the horizon.
Berlin from the air in 2016: the city of today stretches to the horizon.Aerial view of Berlin: Olivier Cleynen, 2016 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

2024

2024: still 653,000 short

The official count for 31 December 2024, on the basis of Census 2022, is 3,685,265. That is 653,491 fewer than the census of 1939.

Sources: de.wikipedia, Einwohnerentwicklung von Berlin · Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, A I 3 – j/24 · Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, release 095-2025

03Greater Berlin · 1 October 1920

The biggest jump in Berlin’s history happened without anyone moving

The Greater Berlin Act was passed on 27 April 1920 and came into force on 1 October 1920. It joined the old city to 7 towns, 59 rural communities and 27 estate districts — Charlottenburg and Neukölln among them.

At the end of 1919 Berlin had 1,928,432 inhabitants. A year later it had 3,879,409: +1.95 M, a city twice the size, made by redrawing a line on the map. Every count from here on is for Greater Berlin.

Berlin’s population, end of 1919 and end of 1920

What was joined: one city and 93 more communities

the old city7 towns59 rural communities27 estate districts
A map of Berlin divided into twenty numbered districts; six small dark districts sit in the middle of a much larger pale area.
Berlin and its twenty districts under the law of 27 April 1920. The six dark districts in the middle were the old city; everything around them was added. Map by Paul Wittig, 1930.Paul Wittig, 1930. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A large coloured city map: an orange built-up core with railway lines in red radiating to surrounding towns, green forests and blue lakes.
Kiessling’s Great Traffic Plan of Berlin with its suburbs, 18th edition, 1920: the built-up city and the towns around it, laced together by rail.Unknown author, 1920. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A sepia postcard of a square with a large town hall and a tall clock tower, apartment blocks to the left.
Charlottenburg town hall on a postcard of 1915, when Charlottenburg was still a city in its own right.Unknown photographer, 1915. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A brick town hall with a small corner tower on a street corner; two trams and a horse cab wait in front.
The old town hall of Rixdorf, about 1905 — the town was renamed Neukölln in 1912 and joined Berlin in 1920. The tram’s board reads “Rixdorf”.Unknown author, 1905. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

041939–1945

Between two censuses six years apart, 1,531,351 Berliners disappeared from the count

The census of 17 May 1939 counted 4,338,756. The census of 12 August 1945 counted 2,807,405 — 35 % fewer.

The statistics give its causes: combat casualties, evacuation, deportations and displacement.

Berliners counted in 1939 and 1945 · one square ≈ 10,000 people

A street filled with rubble, two burnt-out vans, and the shattered columns of a building.
Mohrenstraße after the air raid of 3 February 1945: rubble and burnt-out vehicles. Original Bundesarchiv caption.Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J31347 / Unknown / CC BY-SA 3.0 de

051950–1989

Divided, the two Berlins together never came close to 1939 again

From 1950 to 1989 the counts here add West and East Berlin together. The highest was 3,409,737 in 1989; the lowest 3,048,759 in 1980.

At the end of 1961, the year the Wall went up, the two halves held 3,252,691. At the end of 1989, the year it fell, 3,409,737 — still 929,019 below the 1939 census.

Workers with cranes laying concrete blocks along a wall in winter fog.
East German construction workers building the Wall, November 1961.U.S. National Archives, 1961. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A dense crowd of people in coats in front of a station entrance marked Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse.
The crowd outside Friedrichstraße station on a visiting day, 30 October 1964, when West Berliners could cross to see relatives in the East. The archive’s caption strip is part of the print.Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C1030-0046-001 / Spremberg, Hans-Joachim / CC BY-SA 3.0 de
A crowd gathered at a gap in a graffiti-covered wall; some people stand on top of it.
A crowd at the new opening in the Wall at Potsdamer Platz, 14 November 1989.U.S. Department of Defense, 1989. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A colour aerial view of a vast city of apartment blocks and green space under a blue sky with clouds, flat to the horizon.
Berlin from the air in 2016: the city of today stretches to the horizon.Aerial view of Berlin: Olivier Cleynen, 2016 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

0631 December 2024

3,685,265 Berliners, and the 1939 census still out of reach

The official count for 31 December 2024, on the basis of Census 2022, is 3,685,265. Against the census of 17 May 1939, that leaves Berlin 653,491 people short — about 653,000.

4.34 M
census, 1939: the highest count
3.69 M
official count, 2024
−653,000
2024 against 1939

153 years on one clock face

Each spoke is one count, running clockwise from 1871 at the top to 2024. The yellow ring is the census of 1939: only one spoke touches it. Spokes before 1920 count the old city; after, Greater Berlin.

count for the city of the day (before 1920)count for Greater Berlinthe 1939 census, 4.34 M
Berlin · 1939 / 2024

A war emptied a third of Berlin in six years. Eighty-five years later, the city has still not filled the gap.

Press & citation

Use this Berlinfographic

Free to publish under CC BY 4.0 — in print, online, on Wikipedia and in teaching, commercially or not — with credit to Berlinfographics and a link to this page.

Berlin’s population, 1871–2024: ready-to-use landscape image

Ready-to-use image

The infographic as one image: headline, key figures, chart, sources and credit, 2,400 × 1,350 px PNG. Please use it unedited.

Download landscape (PNG)
Berlin’s population, 1871–2024: square version

Square format

A 1:1 version for social media and narrow columns, 1,800 × 1,800 px.

Download square (PNG)
Berlin’s population, 1871–2024: portrait version

Portrait 4:5

For Instagram and LinkedIn feeds, 1,620 × 2,025 px.

Download portrait (PNG)

Credit line

Berlinfographics (berlinfographics.com), CC BY 4.0

Citation

Berlinfographics (2026). “Berlin’s population, 1871–2024”. Berlin Experiences. https://berlinfographics.com/berlin-population/

Wikipedia

{{cite web |title=Berlin’s population, 1871–2024 |url=https://berlinfographics.com/berlin-population/ |website=Berlinfographics |publisher=Berlin Experiences |date=2026-11-05 |access-date=2026-11-05}}