A quarter millennium of Jean Paul! 250 years ago - on March 21, 1763 - Johann Paul Friedrich Richter was born in Wunsiedel (Upper Franconia). This comprehensive illustrated book celebrates the anniversary year. It includes literary contributions from Brigitte Kronauer and Rolf Vollmann, as well as essays by Prof. Martin Huber (Bayreuth), Dr. Christian Schmidt (Nuremberg), Dr. Monika Meier (Hanover), Dr. Barbara Hunfeld (Würzburg), Dr. Jochen Golz (Weimar), Dr. Angela Steinsiek (Berlin), Prof. Günter Dippold (Bayreuth), Dr. Jörg Paulus (Braunschweig), Prof. Markus Bernauer (Berlin), and the editors. Jean Paul’s work is undeniably part of the core of great German literature. At the same time, he remains an unclassical classic; his texts feel wilder and more unwieldy than those of his marble colleagues. Yet, thanks to his incomparable humor and his joyful way of life, he remains closer to many people today than they are.