[Age limits from the legal perspective]

In this article age limits in law are discussed. Two things first: Legal commitments about old age are most commitments based on agreements which got manifest in legislation. Second, age limits hold for typifying certain facts of life, certain concerns of protection or other purposes. Therefore these age limits by law will be shown by the right of state (legal participation, citizenship and political participation, societal participation) and then according to various phases of life. Age limits generally exist in two phases during the life course: In the phase of childhood and youth, around the age of six to twenty-one (upbringing and education) and the phase of the transition from employment to retirement, around the age of sixty until seventy, at which age limits of monetary provisions for one's old age represent an important part. Furthermore, the legally achieved functions of age limits, like for example the limits of ability and protection, will be discussed. Finally, it will be shown, taking into account the comparison of legal aspects, if and how far age limits are of discriminate character.