After his autobiographical novel "My Childhood Years," Fontane focuses on the crucial phase of his artistic development from 1840 to 1850. He reflects on a turbulent period during which he worked as a pharmacist while hoping to soon live as an independent writer and poet. He reviews many small and large milestones: his literary debut in the "Berliner Figaro" in 1839/40, his time as a pharmacy assistant, and his literary engagement in Leipzig and Dresden from 1841 to 1843, his compulsory military service in 1844/45, his first trip to England, the Berlin Revolution of 1848, his work at the Bethanien Deaconess House in 1849, as well as his engagement (1845) and marriage (1850) to Emilie Rouanet. He dedicates significant attention to the poet association "Tunnel über der Spree," which fostered his literary socialization. In retrospect, Fontane compares himself to the "Rider over Lake Constance," noting in a letter to his wife on August 23, 1891, that "a pharmacist who wants to live from poetry instead of a pharmacy is pretty much the craziest thing there is." Edited by the Theodor Fontane Research Center, with commentary by Wolfgang Rasch.