The issue of inheritance and inheritance taxes is highly emotional in Germany and elsewhere - here is a thread with 8 facts GER:

#1: More than half of all private wealth in Germany has been inherited and not be created through one’s own work and efforts.

http://www.hec.unil.ch/mbrulhar/papers/BrulhartDupertuisMoreau.pdf

Facts on inheritances in Germany #2:

38% of Germans have received an inheritance. Most are well educated and have a good income, so that inheritances raise inequality of wealth and income.

Our study @DIW_Berlin_en (in German): https://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.608735.de/publikationen/wochenberichte/2018_49_4/die_erbschaftsteuer_ist_die_beste____reichensteuer_____kommentar.html

Facts on inheritances in Germany #3:
Inheritances are distributed highly unequally across regions in Germany, which are very low in East Germany, also as private ownership was limited before reunification.

https://www.empirica-institut.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Publikationen_Referenzen/PDFs/DIA_Studie_Erben_in_Deutschland_HighRes.pdf

Facts on inheritances in Germany #4:

€300 to 400 billion (~10% of GDP) are inherited in Germany every year.
Inheritance tax revenues were €7 billion in 2019 — the low effective tax rate is mainly due to exemptions of the inheritance of companies.

https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.560982.de/17-27-3.pdf

Facts on inheritances in Germany #5:

An often heard argument is that passing on company ownership to the children insures its survival.

Yet this is not a credible argument: a big chunk of company inheritances go to underage children, with many being younger than 14 years of age

Facts on inheritances in Germany #6:

Most heirs in Germany are men: they inherit two thirds of companies. Women generally inherit substantially less when it comes to large inheritances.

https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.542137.de/16-36-4.pdf

Facts on inheritances in Germany #7:

Germans inheriting more than €20 million pay on average 1.8% in inheritance taxes.
Germans inheriting less than €500,000 pay on average 12% in inheritance taxes.

https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.524690.de/16-3-1.pdf

Policy implications on inheritances in Germany -- options:

1.      Leave everything as is, i.e. very low and very unequal/regressive inheritance taxes -- this could (yet again) be challenged by the Constitutional Court, requiring changes sooner or later.

2.      Reduce exemptions of inheritance taxes and otherwise keep the current tax regime -- This would generate a lot of additional tax revenues, yet risks creating a problem for the survival of some companies.

3. Introduce a low “flat tax” on inheritances of eg 10%, plus a free amount for small inheritances & the ability to delay payment of inheritance taxes for companies. This could be a good compromise between creating a fair inheritance tax system and avoiding problems for companies