Relationship patterns in the 19th century: The friendship network in a German boys’ school class from 1880 to 1881 revisited

•Reanalysis of first social network data from 1880 to 1881 (pupils friendship relations).•Historic network reveals structural parameters like reciprocity, triadic closure.•Class ranking (‘Klassenrangordnung’) (school performance) has influence on popularity of pupils.

The article presents a friendship network from 1880 to 1881 in a school class, which goes back to the exceptional mixed-methods study of the German primary school teacher Johannes Delitsch. The re-analysis of the historic network gives insights into what characteristics defined the friendship networks in school classes in Germany at the end of the 19th century. ERGMs of the so far unmarked data show structural patterns of friendship networks similar to today (reciprocity, transitive triadic closure). Moreover we test the influence of the class ranking order (Lokationsprinzip), which allocates the pupils in the class room according to their school performance. This ranking order produces a hierarchy in the popularity of pupils, through hierarchy–congruent friendship ties going upwards in the hierarchy. In this respect, concerning the effect of school achievement on popularity, we find a strong stratification, which is not always prevalent today.