For Dolf Sternberger, the Marble Cliffs were the boldest product of beautiful literature that emerged during the time of the Third Reich in Germany. Thomas Mann stated that it was the prestigious book of the 12 years, and at the same time, the Marble Cliffs are the problem book of the National Socialist era. The Marble Cliffs from 1939 long held the status of an ethical and aesthetic problem book within Ernst Jünger's work and was often interpreted as a parable of National Socialism. Not only did Jünger himself later attribute a far-reaching historical-philosophical explanatory power to it.