Lebensgeschichte

Lebensgeschichte is a German noun meaning life story or biography. It refers to a narrative account of a person’s life, describing experiences, turning points, relationships, and personal development over time. The term can describe a biographical work written by someone else or a life narrative told by the subject, though in practice Autobiografie is more common for self-written life stories.

Etymology and scope: Lebens- derives from Leben (life) and Geschichte from Geschichte (story or history). In usage, Lebensgeschichte emphasizes the sequence of events as lived by the individual and often includes interpretive or reflective elements about causes, meanings, and consequences.

In literature and scholarship: A Lebensgeschichte may appear as part of a biography, a historical account, or a fictionalized life narrative. In the social sciences, it is also used as a methodological concept, where researchers collect life histories through interviews to construct biographical narratives and study how life events relate to social contexts and personal development.

See also: Biografie, Autobiografie, Lebenslauf. The term is closely related to other biographical forms and to biographical research methods, which aim to reconstruct a person’s life story while considering subjectivity and context.