This comparative study traces the foundation and development of vocational and career guidance services in three Central and Eastern European countries in the light of the contextually bound factors of this region. Since the beginning of the 20th century, political transitions and changes in the ruling structures in these countries were so frequent that the same generation was often confronted with multiple forms of governance: the rule of 'König und Kaiser', the monarchy, the communist regime, neoliberal economic policies with mass privatisation, membership of the European Union.