International migration from and to Prussia : 1862-1871

Migration has always been an omnipresent topic in Germany. However, unlike today, in the 19th century the German territory was a country of emigration, not immigration. Using county-level data for the period from 1861 to 1871, this paper examines the determinants of emigration from and immigration to Prussia. The empirical results indicate that emigration from Prussia was positively associated with increasing land ownership inequality, urbanization, available transport infrastructure and previous emigration experience, and negatively related to the distance to the nearest port. Average land ownership had an inverted U-shaped effect on emigration. Immigration was concentrated in counties with a high degree of urbanization and a high proportion of industrial workers.)