The boomers, born in the 1950s and 1960s in the West of Germany, are the cohorts with the highest birth rates that Germany has ever produced. This generation is lucky in three ways: As they were born, the World War was over. During the Cold War, they happened to end up on the right geographical side. And they won it. The boomers are the Cold War Generation – shaped by the Cold War, the Wirtschaftswunder, and long upward trajectories.

The legacies of this generation seem to stand in strange contrast to their threefold luck: In addition to an aging society, the pension problem and climate change, it leaves behind many other crises for future generations.

Is the Cold War Generation the Generation Ego? Did they only think of themselves? What has shaped this generation and can its members really be blamed for the current crises? And: What needs to be done now?