Joseph von Eichendorff's first novel 'Ahnung und Gegenwart' was published in 1815. The work tells the story of the young Count Friedrich, who embarks on a great journey full of adventures and encounters after leaving university. The episodic structure of the narrative combines socially critical tendencies with a rejection of Enlightenment thought in a fragmentary and open form. In this novel, which is inspired by Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister', over 50 poems are woven in, including 'In einem kühlen Grunde'. Self-confession and self-discovery, coming-of-age story, social criticism, and salvation history merge in Eichendorff's 'Ahnung und Gegenwart' into a romantic artwork of its own kind. The text is based on the second edition of the novel from 1841, and it includes annotations, documents, literary references, and an afterword by Gerhart Hoffmeister.