The human lifeworld (Lebenswelt) is now a central theme of continental thought. It has been touched on by many philosophers in our Western history, but has been clearly focused and illumined only in our own time by the phenomenological investigations of different thinkers, working in different national traditions from different points of view. In spite of these differences, certain common insights have been achieved. In this paper I shall try to summarize and to interpret these insights, paying special attention to two such investigations, one in Germany, the other in France. I shall also comment on certain basic questions now arising from this recent study of a long neglected topic, the human Lebenswelt.