Since their publication in 1895, Hebbel's diaries have claimed their place in literary history: they are one of the earliest and simultaneously one of the most significant artist diaries in German literature. Hebbel began his entries at the age of 22 in 1835. In a preface, he refers to his diary as "the notebook of my heart" for "my edification in future times," a testament that brings the great author and his era closer to the reader. Wolfgang Ranke has enhanced the classic selection by Anni Meetz with a new afterword and a timeline.