[From the "Rothenfelser Denkschrift" to book IX of the German social code - Milestones of governmental responsibility for integrating people with chronic illness and disabilities in occupation and society].

: After World War II, further development of the social protection schemes in place seemed an urgent requirement given a rapidly unfolding industrial society. At the request of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, four renowned social scientists drafted the "Rothenfelser Denkschrift" published in 1955, which, on the basis of thorough analysis, presented concrete proposals for reshaping the field of social protection. Quite a few of these suggestions have since been incorporated in various books of the German social code, and some of their ideas are quite topical also in the context of the statutory health insurance reform to come. So, curative treatment and rehabilitation might both be considered indispensable constituents of health and social provision, with seamless transitions required in the interest of those affected as well as of meaningful utilization of resources.