Population development of Bautzen

This article describes the population development of the city of Bautzen . It also provides information on current demographics and the population by district.

City and population development of Bautzen

 

Population development of Bautzen. Above from 1400 to 2017. Below an excerpt from 1871

Development of the population (from 1834, always on December 31) :

before 1850 1400-5,400 1815-7,697 1834-9,575 1849-10,518

1850 to 1945 1868 - 12,623 1875-14,709 1880-17.509 1885-19,098 1890-21,516 1933 - 41,951 1939 - 41,885

1945 to 1989 1946 - 38,524 1) 1950 - 41,592 2) 1960 - 41,613 1981 - 49,341 1984 - 51,208 1988 - 52,394

1990 to 2019 1991 - 47,131 1992 - 46,247 1993 - 45,351 1994 - 45,887 1995 - 44,763 1997 - 42,884 1998 - 44,748 1999 - 44,033 2000 - 43,353 2001 - 42,688 2002 - 42,333 2003 - 42,160 2004 - 42,112 2005 - 42,150 2006 - 41,766 2008 - 41,161 2009 - 40,798 2010 - 40,573 2011 - 40,532 2011 - 40,140 according to the 2011 census 2012 - 39,743 2014 - 39,879 2015 - 40,501 2016 - 40,450 2017 - 39,429 2018 - 39,087 2019 - 38,977

1) October 29th
2) August 31st

Before 1400

When Bautzen was the first place in Upper Lusatia to appear in history as Budusin civitas in 1002 , it was already a place of national importance. The exact beginnings of the settlement are partly in the dark due to inadequate sources. There are many indications that Bautzen was the capital of the Slavic Milzeners as early as the beginning of the 10th century . As a tribal suburb, conquering it was tantamount to conquering the entire people. The description of Bautzen in the chronicle of Bishop Thietmar von Merseburg u. a. as civitas and urbs is noteworthy, because metropolises west of the Saale and Elbe such as Trier , Koblenz , Worms and Magdeburg are called the same. Although this does not necessarily mean that these places are equal, it does lead to the conclusion that, in addition to the important, strongly fortified castle, there was an influential settlement center with economic goods (probably also a Slavic prince's seat). The exact number of inhabitants is speculative, but Bautzen was by far the largest town in the region. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Bautzen was able to further expand its outstanding economic and administrative leadership position in Upper Lusatia. During this time, Bautzen achieved an importance that was never again achieved. It is not only one of the most important cities between the Saale and Oder , but has a certain importance in the entire Central European region. In the Ebstorf world map from the middle of the 13th century, apart from Bautzen, only particularly important places of this time such as Prague , Halle (Saale) , Vienna , Nuremberg , Erfurt , Magdeburg and Meißen are recorded. For the year 1300 the population of the city is estimated at 5000.

1400-1850

While the time before 1400 was extremely positive for the urban development of Bautzen, at least the population development stagnated between 1400 and 1850. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Bautzen continued to be an important city, but other cities developed much more dynamically. Even in Upper Lusatia, Bautzen cannot maintain its sole leadership position. As early as the first half of the 14th century, Görlitz was able to surpass the population of Bautzen. Nevertheless, due to its administrative tradition and old rights, Bautzen remains a leading place in the region, but Görlitz has been on an equal footing with Bautzen since the 15th century due to its economic power. In the 16th century, the entire Upper Lusatia suffered a massive loss of importance, while Bautzen and Görlitz stagnated, the population in Dresden increased enormously and overtook Bautzen's population by around 1550. Between 1400 and 1800 the population of Bautzen increased (with only short fluctuations after catastrophic events) from around 5500 to around 7500.

1850-1945

The age of industrialization once again led to a differentiation in the meaning of cities. Bautzen is not necessarily one of the winners in this phase either, but it is by no means one of the stagnating cities that are completely losing importance during this period. Industrialization in Bautzen started relatively late compared to other cities. While z. B. Görlitz around 1815 only has about 1,000 more inhabitants than Bautzen (8700 to 7700), the ratio in 1880 is almost 3: 1 (50,300 to 17,500) - however, in this phase Görlitz is also one of the cities that are growing particularly strongly. On the other hand, the population growth of Bautzen in the phase between 1880 and 1933 is clearly above average. The city is becoming increasingly important as an economic and military location. By 1933 the population of Bautzen grew to around 42,000. During the Second World War the population remained almost constant.

1945-1989

Due to the war damage during the Battle of Bautzen , Bautzen hardly grew in the first post-war years, despite the influx of refugees from the eastern German regions . A new phase begins for Bautzen in the GDR. While many Saxon cities have been continuously losing population since the 1970s (e.g. Meißen, Görlitz), Bautzen can record significant population gains up to 1988, especially in connection with the construction of the Gesundbrunnen prefabricated building area. The city's population has reached its historical high of almost 53,000.

After 1990

After the fall of the Wall in 1989 , the city lost a large number of residents through emigration. By 2005, the population had dropped by around 10,000 to a good 42,000. Due to the high level of immigration at the end of the GDR era, the city's population was among the youngest in Saxony. This had two consequences. On the one hand, a relatively large number of children were still born in Bautzen on an East German scale. While three fifths of the population decline in Saxony between 1990 and 2005 is due to the surplus of deaths and only one third to emigration (Saxony has an aging population and fewer children are born than old people are dying), in Bautzen the importance of emigration (both in the old federal states and as a result of suburbanization in nearby rural communities) at over 75%. Furthermore, due to the special mobility of young people, an above-average number of people emigrated. Today (2005) the average age of Bautzen is only slightly below that of Saxony. Around the year 2000 Bautzen showed tendencies towards a (temporary) stabilization of the population decline. The main reason given was the comparatively good economic development. Although Bautzen is not the largest city in East Saxony, it absolutely has the most jobs. In a Saxon city comparison for 2004, which summarized data such as tax revenue and employees at the place of work per 1000 inhabitants, Bautzen took first place, ahead of Dresden. In 2004 the population had not decreased for the first time since 1989, which the local press described as the “miracle of Bautzen”. In 2005 the population remained constant again. The associated hope of a stabilization of the population was not confirmed in the following years, however, because the population has declined significantly every year since 2006 and even fell below 40,000 in 2012 for the first time since the Second World War

In the course of the refugee crisis from 2015 and the establishment of several asylum seekers' homes in the city area, the number of residents rose slightly after three years to over 40,000.

Forecasts

After stabilization in the meantime, forecasts anticipate a renewed increase in the population decline by 2020 at the latest (as is almost everywhere in eastern Germany), as the low-birth cohorts after the reunification of birth will then reach the age of family formation. However, these forecasts are often made according to standardized procedures and in some cases only insufficiently take into account the differences between the individual cities. The population development of Bautzen turned out to be significantly more favorable in the 2000s than in the forecasts. B. Hoyerswerda developed significantly worse. But it can be said with certainty that the birth rate will continue to be lower than the death rate in Bautzen. However, should the migration gains of recent years continue to be confirmed, it is entirely possible that the population of Bautzen will remain constant for a short time and only shrink moderately in the medium term.

Population groups

Already historically, Bautzen has been shaped by two population groups, the Sorbs and the Germans . The Sorbs are descendants of the Slavic city founders from the Milzen tribe . Since the 11th century, German-speaking settlers also increasingly immigrated, mainly from Franconia and Hesse . Little is known about the proportion of the individual population groups in historical times. For 1400 sources say that a third of the population should have been Sorbs. However, with this number it must be taken into account that various mixing and assimilation processes took place. However, the official census of 1875 still shows a Sorbian population of 18% (2669 of 14,709 inhabitants). While in Bautzen itself German (speaking) made up the majority relatively early on, a Sorbian majority can be recorded for the surrounding area until the first half of the 20th century. However, the proportion of Protestant Sorbs in particular has fallen sharply since then. Reasons are both the temporary co-sponsored by the Evangelical Church Germanization (even if in the Saxon Oberlausitz except for the period of National Socialism was not pronounced by far as in other areas in East Germany) to the new massive immigration of Germans (displaced persons from Eastern German areas after 1945), as well as the natural assimilation processes of a small people. The Sorbian population in Bautzen is currently given as between 5 and 10%. The proportion of Germans with Sorbian ancestors is significantly higher, but many Sorbs also have some German ancestors. The Catholic Sorbs currently have a slightly higher birth rate than the Germans. Both Germans and Sorbs are German citizens. During the Counter Reformation , many Protestant Czechs also emigrated to Upper Lusatia and Bautzen.

The proportion of foreigners in Bautzen increased insignificantly from 0.9% to 1.7% between 1991 and 2011, but remained very low compared to the national average. The Vietnamese made up the largest proportion (around 25% of foreigners).

With the refugee situation from 2015, the proportion of residents with foreign citizenship increased within a short period of time to currently 4.4% (December 31, 2015).

Current demographic data

Population pyramid for Bautzen (data source: 2011 census)

As of December 31, 2016, 40,450 people lived in the city. The proportion of the elderly population has risen significantly in recent years, typical for eastern German cities.

Age from – to	Total population	Share in%
0-17	6.214	15.4
18-29	4,478	11.1
30-44	7.166	17.7
45-64	11,851	29.3
65 and older	10,741	26.6
All in all	40,450	100
Average age	> 46

As of December 31, 2016

Population numbers by district

An overview of the individual districts and their population can be found in the main article under city ​​structure .

Sources and Notes

1. ↑ History of the city of Bautzen , Richard Reymann , printing and publishing house: Gebrüder Müller, 1902, p. 720. The information originally comes from a contemporary document that was placed on September 10, 1868 in the sphere of the imperial tower . Accordingly, 2579 Wends were among the 12,623 inhabitants . There were also 11,419 Lutherans, 1153 Catholics, 29 Reformed, 5 Angelicans, 7 German Catholics, 1 Greek Catholic and 9 Jews .
2. ^ Journal of the K. Saxon Statistical Bureau, Volume 22, Dresden 1876, p. 67 ( digitized version )
3. ^ Database census 2011, Bautzen, city, age + gender

literature

• Imperial Statistical Office (Hrsg.): Statistical yearbook for the German Empire. 1880-1918
• Statistisches Reichsamt (Ed.): Statistical yearbook for the German Reich. 1919–1941 / 42
• German Association of Cities (Hrsg.): Statistical yearbook of German municipalities. 1890 ff.
• Federal Statistical Office (Hrsg.): Statistical yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany. 1952 ff.
• State Statistical Office of Saxony, Dresden, directory of municipalities in the Free State of Saxony 1992 / population as of December 31, 1991
• State Statistical Office of Saxony, Kamenz