The volume provides a critical overview of Romania's development during the transformation period, connecting the Western European external perspective with the Romanian internal perspective. The contributions explore the situation in various political, social, and cultural areas. Well-known figures from Romania and Germany, as well as young scholars, artists, and writers, seek answers to pressing questions. What role does Romania play in Southeast Europe and the EU? What constitutes Romania's European identity? A variety of topics and viewpoints aim to give the German-speaking reader an impression of this Eastern European country, with its contradictions and challenges, as well as its achievements, history, and present.