Overview

The German Life History Study (GLHS) provides extremely detailed retrospective life course information for Germans born between 1919 and 1971. The data make it possible to investigate life courses in Germany across the entire 20th century. Indeed, the GLHS is one of the major databases for comparative studies of social conditions before, during, and after the division of Germany. A major focus of the GLHS is on social change in patterns of education and training, labor market entry, processes of family formation, and – since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 – how the transformation of East German society has affected individual life courses.

For a comprehensive bibliographic database of publications using GLHS data, access the Ciqle Literature Database.