This volume examines German poetry from 1945 to 1960 with a focus on how the literary life of the post-war years renegotiated the construction of modernity. At the heart of the work are exemplary studies about Benn, Brecht, Eich, Huchel, Krolow, Celan, Bachmann, Rühmkorf, and Enzensberger. The book challenges the view that there was rapid assimilation of classical modernity after 1945 and instead, presents post-war modernity as a complex transitional phase between restoration and modernization.