Business cycle chronologies offer reference points for empirical studies used as benchmarks for business cycle and recession
theory. A quasi-official chronology exists for the US economy, but not for most European countries, including Germany. While
most papers dealing with business cycle dates rely on one specific method, I present and discuss a number of different dating
approaches based on the classical business cycle. These are applied to German GDP data comprising 1970–2006. Finally, based
on the results of the different methods, a consensus business cycle chronology for the German economy is suggested.
Keywords Business cycles - Turning points - Business cycle dating algorithm - Non-parametric - Markov-switching
JEL Classification E32 - C14 - C22
I gratefully acknowledge comments and suggestions from Klaus Wälde and two anonymous referees. I also benefited from comments
by Klaus-Jürgen Gern and the participants of a workshop in Dresden and a seminar in Würzburg.