Author(s):
Birger Antholz



Title:
Crime development in West East Germany 1946 to 2017

Abstract:
The development of crime in Germany after the Second World War is described with the frequency number, which is the number of criminal offences per 100,000 inhabitants. For the first time, the frequency figure is also presented separately for the German Democratic Republic, GDR, and for East and West Germany after reunification. By adding the data of communist GDR and capitalist Federal Republic of Germany, FRG, an all-German time series can be shown. Overall German crime increased more than double from 1965 to 1993 and has been falling ever since. The western FRG crime development corresponds to the whole German crime. Quite different is the crime in East Germany. The GDR has very little crime with a frequency number of 870 on average, which remains constant in the 40 years of its existence. In 1989, the GDR frequency number is 700; in FRG it is ten times higher with 7000. After reunification, East German criminality increases fifteen times to more than 10,000. At first, crime in eastern Germany is one-third and for the last decade 14 % higher than in western Germany.

S. 47-56