(... abridged) The observed luminosity function can be constructed in a range of absolute integrated magnitudes $I_{M_V}= [-10, -0.5]$ mag, i.e. about 5 magnitudes deeper than in the most nearby galaxies. It increases linearly from the brightest limit to a turnover at about $I_{M_V}approx-2.5$. The slope of this linear portion is $a=0.41pm0.01$, which agrees perfectly with the slope deduced for star cluster observations in nearby galaxies. (...) We find that the initial mass function of open clusters (CIMF) has a two-segment structure with the slopes $alpha=1.66pm0.14$ in the range $log M_c/M_odot=3.37...4.93$ and $alpha=0.82pm0.14$ in the range $log M_c/M_odot=1.7...3.37$. The average mass of open clusters at birth is $4.5cdot 10^3 M_odot$, which should be compared to the average observed mass of about $700 M_odot$. The average cluster formation rate derived from the comparison of initial and observed mass functions is $bar{upsilon}=0.4 mathrm{kpc}^{-2}mathrm{Myr}^{-1}$. Multiplying by the age of the Galactic disc (T = 13 Gyr) the predicted surface density of Galactic disc field stars originating from dissolved open clusters amounts to $22 M_odot mathrm{pc}^{-2}$ which is about 40% of the total surface density of the Galactic disc in the solar neighbourhood. Thus, we conclude that almost half of all field stars were born in open clusters, a much higher fraction than previously thought.
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