Stifter formulated in the preface to his collection of stories 'Bunte Steine', which includes 'Bergkristall', that famous "gentle law," an ontological concept that sees the sustaining of nature and humanity not in the one-sided or sensational, but in the general and lawful, in the uniform and steady. 'Bergkristall' is perhaps the most complete fulfillment of the demands of this "gentle law," which attributes significance and dignity to the inconspicuous and the small.