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There are many long-held misconceptions about the nature of the imperial German population. One of the most common-held mental pictures includes a middle-class farmer with a nuclear family and stout health. He lived on a well-stocked farm that had been in the family for generations. Some over-privileged and amazingly wealthy aristocrats ruled over him. He was inevitably Protestant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Imperial German society was divided into three categories:  the aristocracy, who were those with titles; the bourgeoisie, who were further sub-divided, but generally referred to as the middle class; and the proletariat, who were at or just below the poverty level—the manual laborers.  

The aristocracy represented approximately one percent of the total population, while 70 percent of the officer cadets came from this one percent. Nobility belonged to the Adelstand, which was divided into Uradel, or “old” nobility and Briefadel, or “patent nobility” (commoners elevated into the German nobility). There were further subdivisions and a distinct pecking order such as Hochadelvs. niederer Adel(higher nobility vs. lower nobility). 

Marriages were often considered unequal even though both parties came from noble families because they were from different levels of the nobility. Not everyone with a “von” in his or her name was noble. For the most part, if you wanted to differentiate noble families from the non-nobility, the “von” in noble names was abbreviated “v.,” while it was left as “von” for non-nobles. Numerically, the aristocracy was a very small group consisting of between 15,000 and 17,000 families, many sharing a common last name.

Many aristocrats were impoverished; others had inherited great wealth. Landowners in the eastern parts of Prussia became quite wealthy after leveraging their estates. By 1911, the top 10 percent of the Prussian population owned 63 percent of the assets. Industry offered greater profitability than agriculture, as land ownership was only profitable around the margins of expanding cities. The aristocracy was invested in land, but the higher profit margin in industry meant that the aristocracy had to adapt. Because of the huge investments in mortgages and land costs, some 5,000 estates went into bankruptcy between 1885 and 1900. Individuals who had invested in industry did extremely well. There were almost 10,000 millionaires by 1911. Some 21,000 Prussians allegedly made an annual income of over 100,000 marks.

Imperial Germany’s national identity was built on the nobility. The noble families east of the Elbe River originally founded Prussia. Collectively, these  became known as Junkers, a well-worn

word that few people truly understand. They were the landed nobility—people who generated their income from the land and the estates that they owned. They had many privileges including a great deal of control over of the accession of officers into the military. Many historians have overestimated the number of Junkers. By 1895, there were only 317 noble family names in Germany. No longer were all members of the aristocracy owners of large estates. Many of those estates were heavily mortgaged, about a third of them were handed down through inheritance, some were sold, and a few were auctioned. The aristocratic mindset was that financial issues were below them. Re-payment of debts was not a major concern to them; nonetheless, in 1885, the aristocracy still owned more than two-thirds of the largest estates in eastern Prussia. By 1900, only one-third of the largest estates in the six eastern Prussian provinces would still belong to nobility. Even though migrant workers provided the labor, the estate owners oversaw them. This method was significantly different than southern Germany where the aristocracy did not cultivate the land but rather lived off rents from small peasant farmers.

Central to the power of the aristocracy was their belief in the constitutional role of the army. Collectively, the Kaiser, the Junkers, and the military leaders believed there was a direct tie between the Kaiser and the army. They considered the military separate from the population. The Prussian members of the military swore their loyalty to the Kaiser—not to Prussia. The loyalty of those from other states such as Saxony and Württemberg was to their own king; to the Kaiser they promised only obedience and, in the case of Bavaria, during wartime only.
(Yes there were four kingdoms inside Imperial Germany with their own kings.) Nevertheless, it followed from this that only the most trusted citizens, those who believed in the Kaiser’s authority could be allowed to become officers. Civilian authority had little influence when dealing with the army.