Abstract
The large variety in galactic structure tells us that the formation and evolution of galaxies is a much more complex process than a simple collapse of a massive gas cloud. A more detailed picture to explain our observations requires understanding the interplay between kinematics of the luminous and dark content, formation and evolution of stars and feedback into the interstellar medium (ISM), out of which the next generation of stars is born. Although we cannot leave our own galaxy to investigate its structure, the proximity of its stars allows for studying their detailed chemical composition. Such abundance studies are powerful tools: kinematic information about the formation of star clusters and galaxies gets lost over time through statistical relaxation, but the chemical composition of stars is conserved and serves as a memory of their origin and formation history. I will present preliminary results of a comparison study of 15 giants in the Galactic bulge as well as the thick and thin disk in the solar neighborhood.