[The aged among Gypsies]

In former investigations in the changes in elder people's life the importance of general social conditions, for instance their economic conditions, has been shown. So for instance the often reported loss of functions of the elders in the highly industrialized western cultures and the seperation from the family can not be observed in other cultures in the same extent. Several investigations among Gypsies as an autonomous cultural group have made evident that, more often than in western cultures, elder Gypsies live in the same household with their grown-up children. Also old Gypsies take a number of functions and tasks in the family and clan, that in part even become more important with their growing age. The fact that almost all German Gypsies (Sinti) have settled and their growing integration into German society suggested, that there might be a change in the situation and importance of old Gypsies. In our investigations in 64 German Gypsy families we found the three-generation-household clearly changed. But in the same time grown-up children and their parents try to live as close as possible. More than half of the interviewed persons lived in direct neighborhood of their parents resp. their grown-up children. It could be also demonstrated, that old Gypsies still have a great importance in conserving and mediating old traditions. So in spite of some external changes no real local or social isolation of old Gypsies could be found in this investigation.