In 1965, the German Institute of Navigation founded the “Fachausschuss 8”, which was a committee with the task of bringing together scientists and users of gyro technology. From the beginning, the gatherings of this commission served to present and to discuss current research topics and typical applications of inertial systems. The first meeting took place in Hamburg with 58 participants from two countries. It was followed by a series of successful conferences, and after about 12 years, the annual, well-recognized international “Symposium Gyro Technology” had emerged. Meanwhile every year approximately 180 participants from 20 countries meet to inform themselves of research, innovative developments, and new applications of inertial sensors and systems. Considering the last 50 years, an enormous change of technology characterizes inertial sensors. Whereas mechanical gyros dominated the first conferences, now optical sensors and MEMS can be found in most applications. Strapdown systems replaced classical inertial platforms; electronic components substituted mechanical ones; and aiding devices like GNSS receivers complement in many cases inertial systems. In parallel, inertial sensors became much less expensive and more reliable. Against this background, it is remarkable how this yearly conference could cover all these changes being documented in the existing proceedings of more than 800 papers up to now. The intention of this paper is to portray the history of the “Symposium Inertial Sensors and Systems” and to characterize the technology developments, changes, and trends as well as applications of inertial technology during five decades. Based on the proceedings, this is done by considering different technologies and gyro types with respect to their importance and frequentness including their first mention.