Rarely has an author so confidently placed the places and people of her life into a timeless context as the writer Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1901-1974). The novelist, storyteller, poet, and playwright is regarded as a sensitive witness to the 20th century. In many of her short prose pieces, she responded to the increasingly complex world. Without a didactic tone, and with great empathy for people, she did not shy away from the terrible and fateful aspects of life. Her old family estate in Bollschweil near Freiburg became a spiritual center for her. Although she lived many years with her husband in the Mediterranean region, she repeatedly returned to Bollschweil to write and reflect. At the time of her death, she was considered a grande dame of German literature.