"The preliminary reflections deal with premature death as an instrument explaining and analysing the historical change of societies. Treatises and discourse on premature death can be found on different levels: social, economic, religious and scientific. Following the structure of this anthology, the introductory reflections contain four parts. First they focus on how the lifespan of different population groups is established and evaluated in a societal context. The way the families and the nursing staff of patients in critical condition as well as these patients themselves deal with untimely death is investigated in a second step. The topic of conducting and the representation of premature death and dying is observed in this context. In conclusion the introductory reflections investigate the actual experience of mass mortality, mourning and its commemoration after the war." (author's abstract