The book provides information about the sparsely documented life story of Hartmann and the various controversial speculations surrounding it, offering insights into the transmission of his works and characterizing the historical context of their creation. The main part of the book then goes into detail about the works themselves: the love songs, the Arthurian epics, and the short stories. A detailed timeline offers an overview of Hartmann's era, while the extensive annotated bibliography opens up the research literature.