Microdata from the German Census

Question

I am looking for open German census data at the micro or census block level. I am particularly interested in economic/health/educational outcomes. However, I cannot find any in English. Is this open data even available?

Answer 1

Access to microdata (and block level data) from the 2011 Census in Germany is subject to some restrictions.

Microdata is only available via an on-site access in a "Research Data Center". Access to the data costs 250 EUR and has to be for scientific purposes. You have to be affiliated with a "scientific institution", and this institution has to be registered with the Research Data Centers.

http://www.forschungsdatenzentrum.de/en/index.asp

There is one alternative. If you can live with results at the municipal level (or higher), you can retrieve some results via the online Census database.

https://ergebnisse.zensus2011.de/?locale=en

There is another alternative, if you do need individual data for research or teaching purposes. In that case the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) might be of interest. It provides i.a. information on the topics you mention, and the data are readily available from GESIS. You only have to register and indicate what you are using the data for.