The German Senior Citizens’ Day (German: ''Deutscher Seniorentag'') is a platform for exchange, information and networking around ageing and later life in Germany. It is used by policymakers, civil society and the society at large to discuss current questions regarding older age. Senior citizens' political participation and their encouragement to discuss key social issues in a self-conscious manner is an important task, which is promoted and demonstrated by events like the Senior citizen's days, as Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

expressed in her speech at the German Senior's Day 2012. The Senior Citizens' Day is organised by the

German National Association of Senior Citizens' Organizations The German National Association of Senior Citizens' Organizations (German: ''Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Seniorenorganisationen'' or BAGSO) is an umbrella organization of about 120 civil society organizations, which together represent several mil ...

(BAGSO) together with its 120 member organisations. The three-day event takes place every three years in another

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

. The patronage of the German Senior Citizens’ Day is in rotation the Federal Chancellor or the Federal President. The president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, appealed in his opening speech at the German Senior’s Day in 2018 in Dortmund to put the situation in geriatric care on the political agenda. The programme includes more than 150 individual events and a

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

where organisations and companies present their work, including many products and services for people aged 50+. One of the outcome documents of the event is a declaration, passed by the member associations of BAGSO. Taking into consideration current challenges, it contains recommendations for decision-makers at all levels as well as individuals on how to improve the living conditions of older people in Germany. In 2021 was published the „Hannover declaration“ (German: ''Hannoversche Erklärung''). In 2018, 14.200 guests visited the 12th Senior Citizens’ Day taking place in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia. The 13th German Senior Citizens‘ Day 2021 took place from November 24 to 26 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the three-day event was realised virtually.

References

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External links

Website of German Senior Citizens’ Day 2021

11th German Senior Citizens’ Day 2015
Gerontology organizations Lobbying organizations in Europe Political advocacy groups in Germany