Rückblick

The article reconstructs the developmental phases of applied geography since the foundation of the Association of German Professional Geographers (Verband Deutscher Berufsgeographen, VDB) in 1950 that later became the German Association for Applied Geography (Deutscher Verband für Angewandte Geographie, DVAG). At that time, spatial planning dominated the discipline. It was only with the establishment of diploma courses that new practical fields of action were added; however, these new tasks were still largely handled with planning tools. It was only with the criticism of planning towards the end of the 1970s that new implementation instruments became necessary. Therefore, the active management of spatial development was tested, further developed in many ways and implemented in the 1980s and 1990s. For a long time applied geography was carried out almost exclusively at universities. It was only after the turn of the millennium that a broad professional field for geographers developed outside of universities. Geographers occupied more and more fields of work, often even management positions. New topics (sustainability, globalization, climate change, etc.) in society, business and politics also supported this development. Today, tens of thousands of geographers in Germany work outside universities but there is no typical job profile and the fields of work are very heterogeneous and dynamic.