Hoebel J, et al. - This investigation draws on data from three national examination surveys carried out 1990–1992, 1997–1999 and 2008–2011 (n = 18,541; age range: 25–69 years) to explore secular trends in obesity [defined by a body mass index ≥30 kg/m² using standardised measurements of body height and weight] prevalence by socioeconomic position and the resulting obesity inequalities in the German adult population. Using linear probability and log-binomial regression models, time trends in socioeconomic inequalities in obesity were examined. According to findings, the examination data from three national health surveys exhibited increasing rates of obesity in the low and middle socioeconomic groups, whereas in the upper socioeconomic strata no such trend was apparent. Between 1990 and 2011, the absolute gap in obesity between the top and the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum widened, especially with increasing levels of obesity among lower-income males and lower-educated females. These results show that the epidemic of adult obesity in Germany has been mainly limited to the middle and lower ends of the socioeconomic spectrum.