With Hartmut Binder's work, a comprehensive biography of Gustav Meyrink that meets scientific standards is presented for the first time. One of the most important satirists in the German language and simultaneously one of the most significant representatives of fantastic literature is freed from the tangled web of questionable legends that have previously obscured the view of his life. Using previously unknown archival materials, unexamined printed sources, and numerous historical illustrations, Binder guides the reader through Meyrink's unfortunate youth, showcases the Prague dandy, athlete, esotericist, and troublemaker who provoked a societal scandal, the failing banker who spent months in pre-trial detention on suspicion of fraud, and describes the Munich translator and the successful writer who retreated to Lake Starnberg. A focal point of the presentation.