Abstract
This contribution starts from today’s definitions of innovation indicators and traces their evolution back over the past 150 years. It is divided into a descriptive and an econometric part. The German innovation system has generally been very stable, even though it witnessed several political changes over the past century. This allows a comparison of the period 1850–1913 with 1951–1999. In the first period, the overall empirical results indicate a linear innovation relation between student numbers as well as public science expenditure, the number of patents granted, and economic demand. However, the second period suggests a different logic in the innovation process: demand drives total R&D expenditure, while patent output does not follow demand. The real domestic product does not seem to depend strongly on innovation activities.
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