[The retreat of death: the epidemiological transition in Germany during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries].

"Using the concept of the epidemiologic transition, this paper examines the long-term changes in morbidity and mortality in Germany during the nineteenth and twentieth century. It focuses on the duration of the transitional phases and their main characteristics by investigating age specific mortality rates and causes-of-death. Applying epidemiological methods such as mean age of death and potential years of life lost will contribute to understand better the epidemiologic transition and its causes from the late nineteenth century onwards. These methods have so far hardly been applied in historical research. They will be related to the causes of death which have been grouped together in 15 categories." (EXCERPT)