Despite revolutions, world wars, and regime changes, Germany’s elites have remained remarkably consistent in one key aspect: their social origins. A new study by sociologist Michael Hartmann, published in the Berliner Journal für Soziologie, reveals that the upper echelons of German politics, business, justice, and administration have been dominated by individuals from privileged backgrounds for over 150 years.

Hartmann’s research, based on the biographies of nearly 2,400 elite figures from the German Empire to the present day, paints a sobering picture of social immobility. While the aristocracy lost its grip on political power after World War I, it was swiftly replaced not by working-class leaders, but by the bourgeoisie and upper middle class - groups that have since entrenched their dominance.

In the economic sphere, the findings are particularly stark. The proportion of top business leaders from working-class or lower-middle-class backgrounds has barely budged - from 14.1% in 1907 to just 19.1% in 2020. In the judiciary and public administration, the story is similar: elite positions remain largely inaccessible to those without a privileged upbringing.

Politics, often seen as more open, tells a mixed story. The Weimar Republic and the early decades of the Federal Republic saw a notable influx of ministers from modest backgrounds. But since the turn of the millennium, this trend has reversed. Today, cabinet positions are once again dominated by individuals from bourgeois households, with working-class representation in decline.

Hartmann argues that these patterns are not coincidental. “Herkunft schlägt Leistung” - origin trumps merit - remains the unspoken rule. Even as elites increasingly present themselves as self-made, the data suggests otherwise. The illusion of meritocracy, he warns, masks a deeply entrenched system of privilege. As the study shows, real change in elite composition has been the exception, not the rule.