The 18 authors in this volume, which presents the fruits of a conference of the German Historical Institute in Rome, are specialists in history, archaeology, musicology and art history. Their joint concern is to delineate how Italy was experienced, perceived, presented and evaluated in the German-speaking culture of the 19th century. From the different perspectives of the various disciplines represented, the articles both reflect the biographical constellations and the institutional parameters involved and study the experiences of Italy gathered in the risorgimento period not only by scholars, journalists and artists but also by craftsmen and beggars, examining the preconditions and the effects of those experiences against the backdrop of the history of ideas.