The discussion about the ageing of society has changed. Now that the “war between the generations” has been dominating the debate for many years, a new perspective has developed that ascribes an unused potential for shaping the demographic change to intergenerational relations. This new perspective is reflected in buzzwords such as “active ageing” and “gained years of life”, which have recently influenced the reports and opinions furnished by expert commissions and scientific advisory boards of ministries in Germany. The focus of this book is on the analysis of these potentials of intergenerational relationships and their conditions and limitations. On the basis of the three most important German population surveys on intergenerational relations, i.e. the German Age Survey, the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the Generations and Gender Survey, the collection of contributions provides empirically sound answers to the question of generation potentials. It becomes clear that intergenerational relations are characterized by a high degree of mutual solidarity and support. At the same time, conflicts and ambivalences become visible, making intra-family relationships a burden. The future reforms of the welfare state should promote the potentials of intergenerational relations without overtaxing them.