# Germany Divided

> Thirty-six years after reunification, the old border still shows up in the data. Germany Divided maps how the former East (GDR) and former West Germany still differ today, using official statistics (Destatis, the federal statistical system's Regionalstatistik, state statistical offices, the Federal Employment Agency, Die Bundeswahlleiterin, KBA, RKI, BBSR and others). Berlin is shown separately. Every figure carries its reference year, publisher, table code and licence.

- "East" = the five eastern states (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) excluding Berlin, unless a theme says the source includes Berlin. "West" = the ten western states excluding Berlin.
- Only data with reference year 2025 or later is published as a current figure.
- Fun facts (https://germanydivided.com/fun-facts/) are our own proxy measurements (Google Trends, OpenStreetMap), not official statistics; always say so when quoting them.
- Licence: charts and texts CC BY 4.0. Quote with credit: "Source: Germany Divided (germanydivided.com), data: <publisher>". Underlying data © its publishers (mostly dl-de/by-2-0).
- Contact: info@germanydivided.com; press: press@germanydivided.com.

## Money & wealth

- [Gross monthly salary](https://germanydivided.com/themes/gross-salary/): A full-time employee in the West earned a median €4,315 a month at the end of 2025; in the East (incl. Berlin) it was €3,761, or 87.2% of the western level. In 2014, before the minimum wage, it was 75.2%. 61 of the 100 lowest-paying districts are in the East. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/gross-salary.csv)
- [Inheritances and gifts](https://germanydivided.com/themes/inheritance/): Tax offices in the West collected €217 in inheritance and gift tax per inhabitant in 2025; in the eastern states it was €23, so the West took in 9.4 times as much per head. Bavaria leads with €501 per head; Berlin €138. Destatis' inheritance tax statistics tell the same story: €2,114 per head was inherited or given in transfers assessed for tax in the West, €498 in the East including Berlin. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/inheritance.csv)
- [Gender pay gap](https://germanydivided.com/themes/gender-pay-gap/): Women in the western states (including Berlin) earned 17% less per hour than men in 2025; in the five eastern states the gap was 5%. The western gap is 3.4 times the eastern one. Every eastern state has a smaller gap than every western state: the largest in the East is 6%, the smallest in the West 12% (Schleswig-Holstein). Once sector, occupation, job level and working hours are taken into account, however, the picture flips: Destatis puts the adjusted gap at 9% in the East and 6% in the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/gender-pay-gap.csv)
- [Old-age poverty benefit](https://germanydivided.com/themes/old-age-benefit/): Old-age poverty benefit is more common in the former West: at the end of 2025 there were 4.2 recipients for every 100 people aged 65+ in the West and 1.9 in the East (2.2 times). Long, unbroken GDR working lives give most eastern pensioners a pension above the threshold. Offenbach am Main has the highest rate (11.5), Saalfeld-Rudolstadt the lowest (0.9). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/old-age-benefit.csv)
- [Trade tax per head](https://germanydivided.com/themes/trade-tax/): Local councils in the former West collected €978 in trade tax per inhabitant in 2025, 1.7 times the €581 in the East. Across districts the take ranges from €4,200 in Frankfurt am Main to €196 in Germersheim. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/trade-tax.csv)
- [Who pays into the shared pot](https://germanydivided.com/themes/fiscal-equalisation/): In 2025 the western states as a group paid €218 per inhabitant into the fiscal equalisation between the states, while the eastern states received €851 per inhabitant. Only 4 states paid in, all in the West: Bavaria (€11.7bn), Baden-Württemberg (€4.0bn), Hesse (€4.0bn), Hamburg (€0.3bn). The five eastern states received €10.5bn of the €20bn redistributed. Their own tax revenue per head ranges from 53.9% (Thuringia) to 75.2% of the national average. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/fiscal-equalisation.csv)
- [Women's pensions](https://germanydivided.com/themes/womens-pensions/): Women in the former East receive an average old-age pension of €1,305 a month, 1.4 times the €945 paid to women in the West: full-time work in the GDR built up longer contribution records. Berlin splits along the old border too (East €1,417, West €1,070). For men the order is reversed but the gap is small (West €1,546, East €1,494). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/womens-pensions.csv)

## Work & business

- [Economic output](https://germanydivided.com/themes/gdp-per-capita/): The former West produced €55,640 of output per inhabitant in 2025, the eastern states €40,267: 72% of the western level. In 1991 the East stood at 33%. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/gdp-per-capita.csv)
- [Productivity](https://germanydivided.com/themes/productivity/): Each person in work in the eastern states produced €83,977 of economic output in 2025, against €99,150 in the West: 85% of the western level, up from 35% in 1991. Brandenburg (€91,088) is the most productive eastern state and now ahead of Saarland (€83,621), the western state at the bottom; Hamburg leads with €122,895. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/productivity.csv)
- [Unemployment](https://germanydivided.com/themes/unemployment/): In 2025 7.0% of the civilian labour force in the eastern states was registered unemployed, 1.19 times the western rate of 5.9%; Berlin stood at 10.3%. Bremen, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland have a higher rate than Brandenburg and Thuringia (6.4%), the lowest in the East. Bremen (11.5%) has the highest state rate, Bavaria (4.0%) the lowest; across districts the rate ranges from 2.4% (Donau-Ries, Unterallgäu and Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen) to 15.2% (Gelsenkirchen). In 1994 the rates were 15.4% in the East and 8.1% in the West: the gap has narrowed from 7.3 to 1.1 percentage points. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/unemployment.csv)
- [Hours worked](https://germanydivided.com/themes/hours-worked/): An employed person in the eastern states worked 1,361 hours in 2025, 33 more than in the West (1,328). In 2000 the gap was 140 hours. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/hours-worked.csv)
- [Commuting across the old border](https://germanydivided.com/themes/commuters/): 345,510 employees living in the five eastern states commute to a job in the West, 6.9% of all employed eastern residents. Only 124,221 make the opposite trip (0.4% of western residents), so 2.8 times as many cross westwards as eastwards. Berlin draws another 281,334 commuters from the eastern states. (30.6.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/commuters.csv)
- [Farmland prices](https://germanydivided.com/themes/farmland-prices/): A hectare of farmland sold for an average of €52,384 in the former West in 2025, but only €17,496 in the East: the eastern price is 33% of the western one. For arable land alone it is €66,085 in the West against €19,881 in the East. North Rhine-Westphalia (€80,732) is the most expensive state, Saarland (€12,672) the cheapest. By area, 49% of all farmland sold in Germany was in the East. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/farmland-prices.csv)
- [Coal-exit billions](https://germanydivided.com/themes/coal-exit-funds/): Of the €41.1bn that the coal-exit law earmarks for the mining regions until 2038, €25.3bn (61%) goes to the five eastern states, home to 15% of Germany's population. That is €2,045 per inhabitant in the East against €235 in the West, 8.7 times as much. Brandenburg (€4,044 per head) and Saxony (€2,494) top the list. (2026 (ceilings to 2038); CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/coal-exit-funds.csv)
- [Patents](https://germanydivided.com/themes/patents/): Companies and inventors in the former West filed 60 patent applications per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, 4.6 times the 13 in the East. Baden-Württemberg alone filed 15,161; the five eastern states together filed 1,579 of 42,349 (3.7%). (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/patents.csv)
- [Where Germany's big companies sit](https://germanydivided.com/companies/): DAX 40 seats: West 37, East 0

## Politics

- [Voter turnout](https://germanydivided.com/themes/turnout/): 83.1% of eligible voters in the former West voted in 2025, against 80.3% in the East. The gap narrowed from 3.4 points in 2021 to 2.8 points. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/turnout.csv)
- [AfD vote](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vote-afd/): In 2025 the AfD won 36.2% of the vote in the former East, twice its 18.0% in the former West. In 2021 the shares were 21.5% and 8.2%. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vote-afd.csv)
- [Left vote](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vote-left/): Die Linke is strongest in Berlin, at 22.2% in the eastern half and 18.1% in the western half. In the eastern states it won 11.8%, against 7.6% in the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vote-left.csv)
- [BSW vote](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vote-bsw/): The Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht won 10.0% in the former East in 2025, 2.6 times its 3.9% in the former West, and missed the 5% threshold for the Bundestag nationally with 4.98%. Its best district was Frankfurt (Oder) (13.3%), its weakest Starnberg (2.3%). (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vote-bsw.csv)
- [Green vote](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vote-greens/): The Greens won 12.5% in the former West but only 5.6% in the eastern states. Eastern university cities are the exception: Potsdam 16.1%, Jena 14.0%, Leipzig 13.6%. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vote-greens.csv)
- [The old mainstream parties](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vote-mainstream/): CDU, CSU and SPD, the parties that have led every federal government since 1949, together won 48.5% of the vote in the former West in 2025, 1.6 times their 29.6% in the East. In 2021 they had 51.9% and 41.7%. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vote-mainstream.csv)
- [Satisfaction with democracy](https://germanydivided.com/themes/democracy-satisfaction/): 51% of people in the East said in 2025 that they were satisfied with how democracy works in Germany, against 62% in the West. The gap has narrowed from 18 points in 2023 to 11, because eastern satisfaction rose from 43%. Only 25% of easterners trust the Bundestag (West 33%). (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/democracy-satisfaction.csv)

## People & origins

- [Young people](https://germanydivided.com/themes/young-people/): At the end of 2025, 10.9% of people in the eastern states were aged 18 to 29, against 13.4% in the West and 15.1% in Berlin. Every eastern state is below every western state. All 20 districts with the smallest share of young adults are in the East, led by Spree-Neiße (7.5%), Elbe-Elster (7.9%) and Greiz (8.2%). The highest shares are in Heidelberg (25.3%), Würzburg city (22.4%) and Münster (21.8%). In 1995 the eastern states had 14.8% in this age group, less than the West (16.4%). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/young-people.csv)
- [Foreign population](https://germanydivided.com/themes/foreign-population/): On 31 December 2025, 8.8% of people living in the eastern states did not hold German citizenship, 49% of the western share of 17.8% (Berlin: 26.9%). Every eastern state is below every western state. Offenbach am Main has the highest share of any district (48.2%), Erzgebirgskreis the lowest (4.3%). In 1991 the eastern share was 0.8%, 9% of the western 8.7%. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/foreign-population.csv)
- [Deaths per birth](https://germanydivided.com/themes/deaths-per-birth/): In 2025 the former East recorded 2.65 deaths for every birth, against 1.42 in the West. Saalfeld-Rudolstadt had the most (3.99), München the fewest (0.80); only 11 of 400 districts had more births than deaths. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/deaths-per-birth.csv)
- [Turkish citizens](https://germanydivided.com/themes/turkish-origin/): The eastern states have 2.6 Turkish citizens per 1,000 inhabitants, against 20.4 in the West: the western rate is 7.8 times as high as the eastern one. Berlin (30.4) alone is home to 112,480 Turkish citizens, 3.5 times as many as all five eastern states together (31,795). Gelsenkirchen has the highest rate of any district (74.1), Regen and Freyung-Grafenau the lowest (0.4). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/turkish-origin.csv)
- [Russian, Ukrainian & Kazakh citizens](https://germanydivided.com/themes/russian-origin/): Citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan make up 21.2 per 1,000 inhabitants in the eastern states and 20.2 in the West (Berlin: 32.0): the eastern rate is almost exactly the same as the western one. Ukrainians dominate since 2022 (81% of the three groups nationally); at the end of 2021 the combined rate was 5.2 in the East and 5.4 in the West. Russian citizens alone: 3.2 per 1,000 in the East, 3.1 in the West. Baden-Baden has the highest combined rate of any district (73.0). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/russian-origin.csv)
- [Naturalisations](https://germanydivided.com/themes/naturalisations/): In the record year 2025, 3.92 people per 1,000 inhabitants became German citizens in the former West, 2.6 times the rate of 1.50 in the East. The five eastern states accounted for 18,478 of the 321,830 naturalisations recorded by the 16 states (5.7%). (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/naturalisations.csv)
- [Religion](https://germanydivided.com/themes/religion/): 82.7% of people in the eastern states belonged to neither of the two big churches at the end of 2025, against 49.9% in the West. Every eastern state is more secular than every western state. Berlin (81.4%) is close to the eastern level. In Saxony-Anhalt only 12.8% are Protestant or Catholic; in Saarland, the most church-bound state, 59.2% are. Catholics are a small minority in the East (3.8% against 27.4% in the West). (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/religion.csv)
- [Babies per head](https://germanydivided.com/themes/births/): In 2025 the eastern states recorded 5.6 live births per 1,000 inhabitants, 68% of the western rate of 8.2. Every eastern state is below every western state. Hamburg (9.5) has the highest rate, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia (5.3) the lowest. In 1990 Destatis put the two halves at 11.1 (East) and 11.5 (West); by 1991 the eastern states had fallen to 6.8, against 11.3 in the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/births.csv)
- [Births outside marriage](https://germanydivided.com/themes/births-outside-marriage/): In 2025, 52.3% of babies in the eastern states were born to parents who were not married to each other — 1.8 times the western share of 28.4% (Berlin: 43.9%). Every eastern state is above every western state. In 62 of the 75 eastern districts most babies are born outside marriage; in the West that is true of none. The highest shares are in Uckermark (63.3%), Mansfeld-Südharz (62.6%) and Prignitz (60.7%), the lowest in Tuttlingen (17.0%), Böblingen (17.6%) and Kaiserslautern district (18.5%). The gap predates unification: in 1989 Destatis' series put the share at 33.6% in East Germany and 10.2% in the West; in 1991 it was 41.2% in the eastern states and 10.7% in the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/births-outside-marriage.csv)
- [Young women per 100 men](https://germanydivided.com/themes/young-women/): For every 100 men aged 18 to 34 there were 89.2 women in the eastern states at the end of 2025, against 92.0 in the West and 97.3 in Berlin. Saxony-Anhalt (87.0) and Thuringia (87.2) have the lowest ratios of any state. The most lopsided districts are Ilm-Kreis in Thuringia (71.1), Schweinfurt city in Bavaria (72.2) and Kaiserslautern city in Rhineland-Palatinate (76.1); 8 of the 20 districts with the fewest young women are in the East. 20 districts have more young women than men (4 of them in the East), led by Freiburg im Breisgau (119.4) and Münster (112.7). In 1995 the ratio stood at 89.6 in the eastern states and 94.3 in the West. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/young-women.csv)
- [Baby names East and West](https://germanydivided.com/names/): The most popular names of 2025 in every state

## Health, care & schools

- [Childcare](https://germanydivided.com/themes/childcare/): On 1 March 2025, 57.2% of children under three in the eastern states were in a day-care centre or with a childminder, 1.66 times the western rate of 34.5%; Berlin stood at 49.4%. Every eastern state is above every western state. 6 of 324 western districts have a higher rate than the lowest eastern district (Chemnitz, 47.2%). Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (60.5%) has the highest state rate, Bremen (31.3%) the lowest; across districts the rate ranges from 19.0% (Berchtesgadener Land) to 65.3% (Rostock city). In 2007 the eastern rate (41.0%) was 4.14 times the western one (9.9%). (1 March 2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/childcare.csv)
- [Teachers without teacher training](https://germanydivided.com/themes/lateral-teachers/): 33.7% of the teachers hired in the eastern states in 2025 had no teacher training, against 8.8% in the West (3.8 times). In Brandenburg more than half of all new teachers were lateral entrants (52.6%), in Saxony-Anhalt 47.3%. Saxony is the eastern exception at 3.2%. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/lateral-teachers.csv)
- [Organ donation](https://germanydivided.com/themes/organ-donation/): Hospitals in the eastern states reported 14.2 post-mortem organ donors per million inhabitants in 2025, 1.2 times the western rate of 11.5. Hamburg (22.5) has the highest rate, and Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are among the top five; Berlin has 8.9. In 2012 the East stood at 13.9 and the West at 12.4. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/organ-donation.csv)
- [Leaving school without a qualification](https://germanydivided.com/themes/school-dropouts/): 10.2% of pupils leaving general schools in the eastern states in 2024/25 had not even a first school-leaving certificate, 1.26 times the western share of 8.1% (Berlin 9.7%). Saxony-Anhalt has the highest share of any state (13.0%), Hesse the lowest (6.0%). Nationally 64,935 young people left without a certificate, 8.4% of all leavers. In 1997/98 the shares were 10.6% in the East and 8.3% in the West. (2024/25; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/school-dropouts.csv)
- [Abitur rate](https://germanydivided.com/themes/abitur/): 29.5% of pupils leaving general schools in the eastern states in 2024/25 had the Abitur, against 33.3% in the West (without Bavaria) and 41.9% in Berlin. Bavaria is left out this year: its return to the nine-year Gymnasium left almost no Abitur year group in 2025 (6.2% of leavers, against 26.9% a year earlier). Hamburg has the highest share (51.5%), Saxony-Anhalt the lowest in the East (24.2%). (2024/25; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/abitur.csv)
- [Pharmacies](https://germanydivided.com/themes/pharmacies/): The eastern states had 22.3 pharmacies per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of 2025, 1.1 times the western rate of 19.5. Saxony-Anhalt (25.4) and Saarland (24.7) have the densest networks, Bremen (16.7) the thinnest; Berlin has 18.2. Germany had 16,601 pharmacies in total, 2,756 of them in the East. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/pharmacies.csv)
- [Doctors](https://germanydivided.com/themes/doctors/): There were 490 working doctors per 100,000 inhabitants in the eastern states at the end of 2025 and 533 in the West (92% of the western rate). City states lead because their hospitals serve the surrounding region: Hamburg has 828, Berlin 708. Among the other states, Bavaria (563) is highest and Brandenburg (431) lowest. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/doctors.csv)
- [Top universities East and West](https://germanydivided.com/universities/): Germany's universities in the world top 200

## Crime & safety

- [Graffiti](https://germanydivided.com/themes/graffiti/): Police in the eastern states recorded 225.6 graffiti offences per 100,000 people in 2025, 2.6 times the western rate of 87.9. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (285.5) and Brandenburg (268.9) have the highest rates of any state. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/graffiti.csv)
- [Recorded crime](https://germanydivided.com/themes/crime-total/): Police recorded 6,872 offences per 100,000 people in the eastern states in 2025 and 6,023 in the West. Berlin (13,642) has the highest rate of any state, Bavaria (4,144) the lowest. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/crime-total.csv)
- [Murder and manslaughter](https://germanydivided.com/themes/murder/): The eastern states recorded 2.07 cases of murder and manslaughter per 100,000 people in 2025, against 3.11 in the West. 75% of all cases nationally were attempts. Bremen (5.67) has the highest rate. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/murder.csv)
- [Robbery](https://germanydivided.com/themes/robbery/): Robbery is above all a big-city crime: Bremen (166.6) and Berlin (130.9) have by far the highest rates. The eastern rate (44.8) is almost exactly the same as the western rate (43.9). (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/robbery.csv)
- [Home burglary](https://germanydivided.com/themes/burglary/): The eastern states recorded 77.8 home burglaries per 100,000 people in 2025, 84% of the western rate of 92.8. Berlin (288.1) has the highest rate, Bavaria (28.7) the lowest. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/burglary.csv)
- [Bicycle theft](https://germanydivided.com/themes/bike-theft/): 292.4 bicycles per 100,000 people were reported stolen in the eastern states in 2025, 229.6 in the West and 614.1 in Berlin. Bremen (758.9) has the highest rate of any state. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/bike-theft.csv)
- [Car theft](https://germanydivided.com/themes/car-theft/): 37.3 cars per 100,000 people were reported stolen in the eastern states in 2025, against 25.1 in the West. Berlin (164.3) has the highest rate. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/car-theft.csv)
- [Attacks on police](https://germanydivided.com/themes/attacks-on-police/): Police recorded 54 cases of resistance or assault against officers per 100,000 people in the eastern states in 2025, against 48.5 in the West. Berlin (122.6) has the highest rate. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/attacks-on-police.csv)
- [Right-wing extremist crime](https://germanydivided.com/themes/right-wing-crime/): Police in the former East recorded 119 right-wing politically motivated offences per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, 3.2 times the western rate of 37. The highest rates were in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (145) and Saxony-Anhalt (142); in absolute numbers North Rhine-Westphalia recorded the most cases (6,268). Germany as a whole: 42,544 cases. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/right-wing-crime.csv)
- [Road deaths](https://germanydivided.com/themes/road-deaths/): 558 people died on the roads of the former East in 2025, 45 per million inhabitants, against 33 per million in the West (1.4 times). Cities are safest: Berlin recorded 10 per million. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/road-deaths.csv)

## Everyday life

- [Registered sex workers](https://germanydivided.com/themes/sex-work/): At the end of 2025 the eastern states had 16.2 registered sex workers per 100,000 inhabitants; the West had 42.7, 2.6 times the eastern rate. The East is home to 15% of Germany's population but only 6% of registrations. Bremen (100.0) has the highest rate, Brandenburg (4.3) the lowest: a factor of 23. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/sex-work.csv)
- [Licensed sex businesses](https://germanydivided.com/themes/brothels/): The eastern states had 2.49 licensed prostitution businesses per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of 2025, 91% of the western rate of 2.75. Bremen (10.19) and Hamburg (7.76) have the highest rates. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/brothels.csv)
- [Trabants and Wartburgs](https://germanydivided.com/themes/trabant-wartburg/): 50,999 Trabants and Wartburgs were still registered in Germany on 1 January 2026. The eastern states have 335.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, 26.7 times the western rate of 12.6; 81% of them are registered in the East. Thuringia leads with 388.3, Hamburg has the fewest (6.8). (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/trabant-wartburg.csv)
- [Simson motorcycles](https://germanydivided.com/themes/simson/): The eastern states have 173.6 registered Simson motorcycles per 100,000 inhabitants, 28.0 times the western rate of 6.2. 83% of Germany's 25,974 plated Simsons are registered in the five eastern states; Thuringia (228.1) and Saxony (181.4) lead. (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/simson.csv)
- [Cars](https://germanydivided.com/themes/cars/): On 1 January 2026 there were 611 cars per 1,000 people in the former West and 564 in the East. Berlin, with 332, has the fewest of any state. (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/cars.csv)
- [Electric cars](https://germanydivided.com/themes/electric-cars/): On 1 January 2026 4.4% of cars registered in the former West were fully electric, against 2.3% in the East (1.9 times). The share ranges from 12.5% in Wolfsburg to 1.2% in Görlitz. (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/electric-cars.csv)
- [Motorhomes](https://germanydivided.com/themes/motorhomes/): For every 10,000 people the former West has 134.7 registered motorhomes, the East 93.4. (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/motorhomes.csv)
- [Caravans](https://germanydivided.com/themes/caravans/): There were 105.8 caravans per 10,000 people in the eastern states on 1 January 2026, 10% more than the 95.8 in the West; Berlin has 26.1, the fewest of any state. Schleswig-Holstein (129.0) leads; all five of the eastern states are above the western average. 5,749 caravans of the GDR-era make Camptourist are still registered, 65% of them in the East. (1.1.2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/caravans.csv)
- [Sports club members](https://germanydivided.com/themes/sports-clubs/): Sports-club memberships equal 33.8% of the population in the former West, 1.9 times the 17.7% in the East. Baden-Württemberg leads with 38.2%, Brandenburg comes last with 15.5%. In the GDR, organised sport ran largely through workplace sports associations (Betriebssportgemeinschaften), most of which were dissolved or refounded as independent clubs after 1990. (1.1.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/sports-clubs.csv)
- [Wind and solar power](https://germanydivided.com/themes/wind-solar/): At the end of 2025 the former East had 4,131 watts of wind and solar capacity installed per inhabitant, 2.1 times the West's 1,997 W. Brandenburg leads all states with 7,218 W per head; Berlin has 139 W. (31.12.2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/wind-solar.csv)
- [Forest fires](https://germanydivided.com/themes/forest-fires/): 2,311 of the 2,626 hectares of German forest that burnt in 2025 were in the five eastern states (88%), although they cover 30% of the country. Saxony alone lost 1,894 ha; Brandenburg had the most fires (317). Per 1,000 km² the East burnt 16.5 times as much forest as the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/forest-fires.csv)
- [Where the wolves are](https://germanydivided.com/themes/wolves/): 183 of Germany's 276 confirmed wolf territories in the 2024/25 monitoring year lay in the five eastern states, 16.9 per 10,000 km² against 3.7 in the West (4.6 times). The first pack in modern Germany was confirmed in 2000 in Saxony's Lusatia, on the Polish border; today Lower Saxony and Brandenburg have the most territories (63 and 60). (2024/25; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/wolves.csv)
- [Rainfall](https://germanydivided.com/themes/rainfall/): The former West received 702 mm of rain and snow in 2025, the East 504 mm (1.4 times as much in the West). Saxony-Anhalt was the driest state (437 mm), Baden-Württemberg the wettest (865 mm). The East's drier, more continental climate also shows in its forest-fire figures. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/rainfall.csv)
- [Heat pumps in new homes](https://germanydivided.com/themes/heat-pumps/): The energy transition in new homes ignores the old border: 73.9% of homes completed in 2025 in the East and 74.2% in the West are heated mainly by a heat pump. Saarland leads with 88.2%; Berlin, with its apartment blocks and district heating, is far behind at 44.8%. In 2016 the shares were 32.7% East and 32.1% West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/heat-pumps.csv)
- [Olympic medals East and West](https://germanydivided.com/olympics/): Milano Cortina 2026 (Winter): E 0.8 · W 0.2 per million

## Fun facts

- [German flag fever](https://germanydivided.com/themes/flag-searches/): Nobody sells flag statistics by state, so we asked Google. In the World Cup year 2026 every eastern state searched for “Deutschlandfahne” more than the West: an index of 80 against 50. Saxony-Anhalt searched five times as intensively as Hamburg. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/flag-searches.csv)
- [Vita Cola](https://germanydivided.com/themes/vita-cola/): The GDR’s cola is still an eastern drink: interest in Vita Cola is seven times higher in the East than in the West. Thuringia, where it is bottled, scores 100; Bavaria scores 6. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/vita-cola.csv)
- [Soljanka](https://germanydivided.com/themes/soljanka/): The sour Eastern European soup that became a GDR canteen classic: East Germans search for Soljanka seven times as often as West Germans. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern leads. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/soljanka.csv)
- [Ketwurst](https://germanydivided.com/themes/ketwurst/): East Berlin’s 1970s answer to the hot dog, a sausage in a hollowed-out roll with ketchup, is still searched nine times more in the East than in the West. (2025; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/ketwurst.csv)
- [Döner beats pizza](https://germanydivided.com/themes/doner-vs-pizza/): In every eastern state there are more kebab shops than pizzerias on OpenStreetMap (1.19 per pizzeria); in the West it is the other way round (0.65). (November 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/doner-vs-pizza.csv)
- [Nudist beaches](https://germanydivided.com/themes/nudist-beaches/): 52% of the 346 nude bathing spots mapped in Germany are in the five eastern states, home to 15% of its people: 14.7 per million inhabitants against 2.3 in the West. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern leads with 59.1. The GDR's FKK culture lives on. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/nudist-beaches.csv)
- [Garden swimming pools](https://germanydivided.com/themes/garden-pools/): Not the rich West: the East has 2.3× as many garden pools per head (13.6 per 10,000 inhabitants against 6.0). Saxony-Anhalt (19.9) and Saxony (18.3) lead, Hamburg is last (0.5). Most are above-ground pools in the gardens of detached houses. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/garden-pools.csv)
- [Karl Marx vs Konrad Adenauer](https://germanydivided.com/themes/street-names/): 36 years after unification the East still walks down socialist streets: OpenStreetMap lists 1,341 streets named after Karl Marx, Ernst Thälmann, Rosa Luxemburg or Karl Liebknecht in the five eastern states, 10.9 per 100,000 people, against 0.2 in the West. Western heroes went the other way: the West has 591 Adenauer and Kennedy streets, the East 5. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/street-names.csv)
- [Sex shops and strip clubs](https://germanydivided.com/themes/sex-shops/): No divide here: 5.5 sex shops and strip clubs per million inhabitants in the East, 5.5 in the West. Hamburg has the most (15.5); Berlin 10.8. Strip clubs are rare everywhere: 86 are mapped in all of Germany. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/sex-shops.csv)
- [Soviet memorials](https://germanydivided.com/themes/soviet-memorials/): The Red Army left its memorials in the East: OpenStreetMap records 136 Soviet war memorials and Lenin monuments in the five eastern states, 1.1 per 100,000 people, against 11 in the whole of the West (0.02). Brandenburg has the most per head. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/soviet-memorials.csv)
- [Hunting stands](https://germanydivided.com/themes/hunting-stands/): Germany has mapped 178,625 hunting stands, the wooden hides at the edge of every forest. Per 100 km² of forest the West has more: 174 against 150 in the East. Among the larger states Schleswig-Holstein leads with 294, Saxony-Anhalt has the fewest (91). (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/hunting-stands.csv)
- [Tennis courts](https://germanydivided.com/themes/tennis-courts/): Tennis is a western game: OpenStreetMap shows 5.1 tennis courts per 10,000 people in the West and 1.5 in the East. The gap survives a test against mapping effort: the West has 0.67 tennis courts for every football pitch, the East 0.18. (November 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/tennis-courts.csv)
- [Speed cameras](https://germanydivided.com/themes/speed-cameras/): The old border hardly matters (6.0 fixed speed cameras per 100,000 inhabitants in the East, 6.5 in the West), but the states could not be more different: Baden-Württemberg has 13.8, 13 times as many as Bavaria (1.1). (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/speed-cameras.csv)
- [Snack bar or burger chain?](https://germanydivided.com/themes/snack-bars/): The East sticks with its Imbiss: 26.6 independent fast-food places for every McDonald's or Burger King, against 16.1 in the West. Berlin has the most (38.7), Bavaria the fewest (12.5). McDonald's is almost equally common on both sides (1.6 and 1.7 per 100,000 inhabitants); Burger King is rarer in the East (0.7 against 1.0). (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/snack-bars.csv)
- [Porn searches](https://germanydivided.com/themes/porn-searches/): Every eastern state searches Google for “Porno” more than any western state: an index of 86 against 61. Saxony-Anhalt scores 100; Berlin is last with 39. Searches for the big sites by name show the same gap (Pornhub 1.4× East, xHamster 1.7× East). (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/porn-searches.csv)
- [Looking for an affair?](https://germanydivided.com/themes/affair-searches/): East Germans google “Seitensprung” (an affair or fling) 1.4× as often as West Germans: 88 against 64. Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern top the list; the big cities search least. Dating apps show no such divide: Tinder is close (1.1× West). (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/affair-searches.csv)
- [Weight-loss jabs](https://germanydivided.com/themes/weight-loss-jabs/): The weight-loss jab is a western obsession: interest in “Abnehmspritze” is 1.2× as high in the West (85 against 70). Schleswig-Holstein leads; Saxony searches least. The brand names show the same gap. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/weight-loss-jabs.csv)
- [Money worries](https://germanydivided.com/themes/debt-searches/): Searches for “Pfändung”, the seizure of wages or bank accounts for unpaid debts, are 1.3× as frequent in the East (88 against 66). Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt lead; prosperous Bavaria is last. Searches for the benefit “Bürgergeld” follow the same line (1.3× East). (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/debt-searches.csv)
- [Lake Balaton](https://germanydivided.com/themes/balaton/): Hungary’s Lake Balaton was a favourite foreign holiday for GDR citizens and a place where divided families met before 1989. It is still an eastern dream: searches are 2.7× as frequent in the East (71 against 27). Saxony scores 100, Hamburg 15. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/balaton.csv)
- [Horoscopes](https://germanydivided.com/themes/horoscope-searches/): In one of the least religious regions in the world the stars do a little better: the East searches for its “Horoskop” 1.1× as often as the West (89 against 78), with Brandenburg on top. Tarot is a different story: Berlin leads by far. (January–October 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/horoscope-searches.csv)
- [Mosques](https://germanydivided.com/themes/mosques/): The West has 4.4 times as many mosques per head as the East: 2.2 per 100,000 people against 0.5 on OpenStreetMap. That is 1,505 mapped Muslim places of worship in the West and 61 in all five eastern states together. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/mosques.csv)
- [Allotment gardens](https://germanydivided.com/themes/allotments/): The East is allotment country: 35.8 m² of allotment gardens per inhabitant, 4.7× the West's 7.6 m². Saxony-Anhalt (44.4 m²) and Thuringia (42.9 m²) lead. In the GDR the dacha and the garden plot were where people grew what the shops lacked, and spent their weekends. (September 2026; CSV: https://germanydivided.com/data/allotments.csv)
- [Top-flight football since unification](https://germanydivided.com/bundesliga/): Eastern clubs: 33 of 632 Bundesliga places

## Other divisions of Germany

- [If Germany were occupied by Russia](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/occupation/): Russia holds 19.3% of Ukraine. The same share of Germany gives it Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden
- [Phone codes and postcodes](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/phone-codes/): 3 zones · largest: Neither (80.8% of people)
- [The four power grids](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/power-grids/): 4 zones · largest: TenneT (32.8% of people)
- [Holiday Germany](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/holidays/): 4 zones · largest: Catholic holidays (64.6% of people)
- [Slavic place names](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/slavic-names/): 3 zones · largest: Under 10% (85.3% of people)
- [Where the ice reached](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/ice-age/): 5 zones · largest: Never glaciated (53.1% of people)
- [Catholic and Protestant Germany](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/catholic-protestant/): 3 zones · largest: Neither church (44.9% of people)
- [Mountains and lowlands](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/mountains-lowlands/): 4 zones · largest: Lowlands (38.8% of people)
- [Cold-winter Germany](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/cold-winters/): 4 zones · largest: Mildest (49.6% of people)
- [The livestock belt](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/livestock/): 6 zones · largest: Around average (40.6% of people)
- [North Sea, Baltic or Black Sea](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/watershed/): 3 zones · largest: North Sea (83.9% of people)
- [The four occupation zones, 1945–49](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/occupation-zones/): 5 zones · largest: British zone (36.9% of people)
- [Prussia and the rest, 1871](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/prussia/): 5 zones · largest: Kingdom of Prussia (51.8% of people)
- [The Hanseatic north](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/hanse/): 2 zones · largest: None (68.8% of people)
- [Where French law ruled](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/french-law/): 3 zones · largest: Elsewhere (79.6% of people)
- [Inside and outside the Roman Empire](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/roman-limes/): 2 zones · largest: Outside (Germania magna) (62.8% of people)
- [Low German and High German](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/language-lines/): 3 zones · largest: Low German (north of the Benrath line) (37.2% of people)
- [Old Germany and young Germany](https://germanydivided.com/divisions/old-young/): 4 zones · largest: Younger than average (43% of people)

## About the data

- [Methodology](https://germanydivided.com/methodology/): how sources are chosen, cleaned and mapped
- [Sources & licences](https://germanydivided.com/sources/): every dataset with publisher, table code and licence
- [Data downloads](https://germanydivided.com/data/): every theme as CSV
- [Press](https://germanydivided.com/press/): quoting, embedding and data requests
- [About](https://germanydivided.com/about/): who runs Germany Divided

## Optional

- [Full text with every figure](https://germanydivided.com/llms-full.txt): East, West, Berlin and Germany values for every theme, with sources