An age gap in a relationship is no longer unusual today. Heidi Klum married Tom Kaulitz. Johannes Heesters was a famous example of how you can stay happily married to a much younger woman until the end of your life. The flamboyant English designer Vivienne Westwood shows how it's done with her much younger long-term partner. There are plenty of famous examples of how it can work and does work.

At what age gap in a relationship do people start to take notice?

  • 15 years and up
  • the woman is the older one
  • the man could be her dad
  • an extreme gap of more than 30 years

But are there bigger difficulties in relationships with a considerable age gap than in relationships between people the same age? In the long run it will certainly be a bigger challenge, because different life experiences play a role. We gather experience with every stage of life, and a 50-year-old woman is simply more experienced because of what she's been through than a 25-year-old. But can it work long term if that very woman is with a 32-year-old? There's no blanket answer, because it depends on the person and their level of maturity. It also depends on the tolerance of the older person involved.

Love and partnership
Dream relationship

But what about outward appearance in the long run? We can't stop the aging process. Year after year, our skin shows the marks of the life we've lived. Some people grow more beautiful with age, while others say goodbye to their beauty. A healthy and positive lifestyle shows how you can keep looking younger. But can love with a big age gap withstand that in the long run? That's where true love begins. Is it enough for a lifelong relationship, or was it only a chapter of life?

According to the poet Schiller, love knows neither door nor gate. It always finds its way, but aging is part of life. Every stage of life has its own themes, and can it work in the long run when two different generations live in one relationship?

Anything is always possible. Exceptions always make the rule. It's so individual and hardly predictable, because love strikes unexpectedly. Thomas Gottschalk was seen as the supposed model husband who would always be at the side of his Thea. But then a younger woman came along, and he left not only his wife but also his adopted home, the USA. All that counted in that moment was love and pure feeling. Both made their decision in the here and now.

The age gap will be an issue for every mismatched couple, sometimes more and sometimes less, but there's nothing you can do against feelings, and a glance at an ID card doesn't interest lovers in that moment.