The study discusses Albrecht Dürer's (1471-1528) minor writings (family records, letters, poems in rhyming couplets, dedications, and the »Diary of a Journey to the Netherlands«) against the background of comparable contemporary texts and inquires into their function and status. Dürer's systematic use of formulaic elements taken from Early High German text varieties for his own interests or for ludic purposes casts light on the conditions governing literary and authorial activity and the way those conditions reflect the role of writing in the transition from one class of (educated) society to another in the period around 1500.