CONTRIBUTION TO A HISTORY OF GERONTOLOGY IN THE 2ND-HALF OF THIS CENTURY

In this paper some trends of gerontology during the last 45 years in G ermany are described. A survey of the development of gerontology in th e former GDR is followed by an analysis of the ''Zeitschrift fur Alter nsforschung'' from 1980-1990. The main result is the predominance of p ublications on the care system since the middle of the 1980s. With reg ard to the development of gerontology in the western part of Germany, an analysis of publications in the ''Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie' fro m 1968-1991 shows changes in the main topics during this period. Until the middle of the 1970s there was a predominance of publications in t he field of: intelligence, learning, memory and perception. The emphas is of publications from 1977-1985 was on stress and coping. In the mid dle of the 1980s there was an increasing interest in the analysis of s ocial network and competence in the elderly. The paper discusses these trends of gerontological research in the eastern and western parts of Germany.