German Industrial Employment 1925, 1933, 1936 and 1939. A New Benchmark for 1936 and a Note on Hoffmann´s Tales

The industrial census of 1936 did not include all industrial firms; for certain industrial groups data of small firms were not recorded. This article describes the estimation of employment (4 million) which has to be added to the recorded number of 8 million employees. The estimated figure is confronted with the figures of the workplace censuses of 1925, 1933 and 1939 on the one hand and with the compilation by Hoffmann on the other hand. Whereas the estimate is in line with the workplace censuses it deviates significantly from Hoffmann´s numbers. Scrutinising them reveals serious distortions in their level, trend and yearly fluctuations. By implication, this objection does not only hold for the employment figures but for time series on production and levels of labour productivity as well. Consequently, one should keep away from Hoffmann´s figures when discussing any aspect of economic failure of the Weimar Republic or economic recovery after Hitler came to power