Peter Rühmkorf devoted his poetry to the wholehearted critique of the times like almost no other contemporary poet. In his poetry, he dealt with the economic exchange value of poetry and the dwindling significance of literature of the past. The presence of his poems is stupendous. At an early stage they decidedly rejected societal processes that determined today''s situation, namely the advanced economisation of culture and education and the loss of literary tradition. The volume focuses on central themes of Rühmkorf''s poetry – tradition, economics and political criticism.