On the banks of the Neckar, between the Schwenninger Moos and Mannheim, a unique cultural landscape has developed since the Middle Ages, which gained European significance particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Few regions have played a comparable role in the intellectual development of Germany; one only has to think of Hölderlin and Schiller, Waiblinger and Mörike, Kerner and Uhland, as well as Berthold Auerbach, Hilde Domin, Hermann Lenz, and Siegfried Unseld. Tübingen and Heidelberg, Esslingen and Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg and Marbach - Jan Bürger's vividly, knowledgeably, and colorfully narrated book about the historical and cultural dimensions of the Neckar Valley, which follows the river's course and describes the central locations, practically invites readers to embark on a journey along the Neckar themselves.