Calculations by a research team from the Universities of Leipzig and Jena, along with Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, indicate that the proportion of East Germans occupying top positions in companies, the Bundeswehr, the judiciary, and other sectors has recently seen a slight improvement, but remains significantly below their demographic share.
Specifically, the team found that their presence in various elites increased slightly from 10.9 percent to 12.1 percent between 2018 and 2024. However, the data revealed strong disparities across different social areas. The most noticeable increases occurred in public administration and science, while other sectors-such as business, culture, security, and civil society-actually registered minor decreases. Only minimal increases or no changes were observed in politics, the military, media, religion, labor unions, and the judiciary. In politics specifically, the representation of East Germans matches their population share, provided that regional, state-level elite positions are taken into account.
Lars Vogel of the University of Leipzig commented that the low representation of East Germans in these high-level roles cannot be solely attributed to the systemic changes that took place in the GDR. He noted, “Different career paths, regional structures, access to networks, and the question of which experiences and résumés are perceived as suitable in selection decisions also play a role.”
Political scientist Astrid Lorenz stated that the “thesis of upward mobility catching up”-which suggests that underrepresentation will automatically diminish over time-is only partially supported by the findings. She highlighted the existence of “formal and informal barriers to advancement.”
