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IPS30 Stefan D. et al.
Germany finally took place in 1987, but only after some protracted delay. As a
consequence of this special context in Germany, a combined census model
was developed, tested in a large-scale test in 2001 and finally implemented in
2011.
This paper briefly recapulates the origins that led to the creation of this
specific census model (section 2), outlines the basic features of the combined
model as well as the lessons learned during its implementation in 2011 and
the current plans for the 2021 round (section 3). Finally it provides an outlook
as regards the perspectives for the post-2021 age in Germany (section 4).

2. Legal and institutional background
The creation of the combined model for the German census can only be
understood against the background of the difficult implementation of the last
traditional census, which was stopped by the German constitutional court only
few weeks prior to its implementation in 1983 (for a short history of censuses
in Germany before the 1980s see Scholz, R. D., &Kreyenfeld, M. (2016)). It was
implemented in modified form in 1987. After the controversial discussions of
the census during the period 1983-1987, the Federal Government was
reluctant to engage in a traditional census again. So, instead of carrying out a
full census in the 2001 census round, a large-scale census test was conducted
to assess the viability of a register-assisted approach, that combined data
obtained from registers with a number of primary data collections.
The new model had to comply with the judgement of the German
constitutional court that was delivered on the occasion of the planned census
1983. This judgement has, since then, had a major impact on data protection
regulation in Germany. It stated that the right of informational self-
determination directly follows from the fundamental right of personal
freedom, guaranteed by article 2 of the constitution. Any data collection
required from the public therefore is only considered constitutional if justified
by a legal basis, which needs to be specific and clear as well as commensurate
compared to the public interest at stake. While data for administrative
purposes may only be collected for specific, well justified and commensurate
purposes, collection for official statistics, given its specific role, is allowed for
a certain stock of information that can be used for multiple purposes.
Consequently, data collected for statistical purposes must be used for
statistical purposes only and under no circumstances can be transferred to
other public bodies (“Rückspielverbot”) (Bundesverfassungsgericht (1983)).

3. The census models 2011 and 2021
3.1 The combined model implemented in 2011
The basic idea of the combined census model in Germany was to use the
data in the fields of demography and employment from the available

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