As a symbol of national greatness, Otto I has entered history. Later, he was referred to as a distant representative of an archaic society, about whom no biography could be written. The book by the renowned medieval historian Johannes Laudage initially engages with these theses: Can Otto the Great really be appropriated nationalistically? Does he truly remain a man without qualities? Or can his personality and the motives behind his actions be deciphered after all? The author follows the ruler's life path. At the center is the scope of action of the individual amidst a world filled with magical piety and constant threats. Laudage's biography of Otto the Great is one of those rare books in German historiography that conveys scholarly results in an engaging and readable manner.