  The vortex picture of confinement is studied. The deconfinement phase
transition is explained as a transition from a phase in which vortices
percolate to a phase of small vortices. Lattice results are presented in
support of this scenario. Furthermore the topological properties of magnetic
monopoles and center vortices arising, respectively, in Abelian and center
gauges are studied in continuum Yang-Mills-theory. For this purpose the
continuum analog of the maximum center gauge is constructed.
