In August 1990, Project 233 of the International Geological Correlation Program hosted an international conference in G6ttingen/Giessen, Germany. Discussions were focused on the Tectonothermal and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Central European Orogens. The meeting marked the first opportunity for completely open scientific exchange following the recent political reformations in central Europe. This exciting new atmosphere of international cooperation resulted in presentation of a wealth of information which was new to scientists from both sides of former political boundaries. It was apparent that a unique opportunity was available to prepare a systematic overview in a volume dealing with the geology of Central Europe. The present book represents an outgrowth of this conference, but is not merely a compilation of the papers presented in G6ttingen/Giessen. Instead, it represents a coordinated volume designed to present a balanced, comprehensive view of our present understanding of the tectonothermal and stratigraphic evolution of the Central European orogens. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the national funding agencies, who have financed much of the research work summarized in this book, and of the Interna tional Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP, project no. 233) which provided and helped to finance the organisational framework. We are indebted to Springer-Verlag for thorough copy-editing and production of this book, and we sincerely appreciate the efforts of all the reviewers whose com ments have greatly helped to improve the quality of this volume. We also thank the various contributors for their diligence and perseverance in manuscript preparation.