DemoAtlas

DemoAtlas sets the voting behaviour and social structure of Germany's 400 districts side by side, and reveals a pattern that structure alone cannot explain: East and West German districts with very similar indicators (unemployment, income, education) often vote in opposite directions.

The atlas traces this East-West difference back to its roots: the Treuhand shock of the early 1990s (unemployment in the East rising from around 10 to over 15 % within two years), the persistent under-representation of East Germans in top positions, and a declining trust in the media. It makes no claim of causality. It assembles the data so that you can examine the connections for yourself.

Spatial level. Maps and structural data are held at the 400 current districts (present-day boundaries). Time series are boundary-adjusted, recalculated onto consistent borders across district reforms (including Saxony in 2008) using INKAR, so that comparison across the years holds.

Structural types. The clusters on the structural-types page group constituencies with a similar socio-economic profile, on z-standardised indicators, so that figures measured in different units become comparable.

Map colours. The election map uses the real party colours (a lighter shade → full colour by vote share); the structure map uses sequential scales. The time slider ties both maps to a shared year.

Definitions & breaks. The unemployment rate for the reunification years uses the definition “dependent civilian labour force” (continuous from 1991); the district series from 2001 uses the more modern “all civilian labour force”. Visible jumps mark real changes in method, Hartz IV in 2005 (a broadened definition of unemployment) and the census revisions of 2011 and 2022 (population, share of foreign nationals, density). They are not genuine trends.