An overview of recent research on the work and life of Walter Kempowski (1929-2007) strongly suggests a particular impression: what we think of this writer, his self-understanding and his work, as well as his position in the context of literary modernism after 1945 and the intellectual milieu of the Federal Republic, still seems far from settled. One of the most important mediums that can aid in further approaching this multifaceted and still largely unrecognized author is his extensive diary oeuvre, which, alongside his novels and text collages, forms the "third pillar" of his complete works. The contributions in this volume examine Kempowski's diary from three perspectives: first, as an individual self-expression of the poet and man Walter Kempowski in his time; then as a "poetic artifact," focusing on its composition.