With "Hymen", the ongoing historical-critical edition of Ferdinand von Saar's works arrives at the output from the author's old age. Physically ailing and frequently assailed by bouts of resignation, the Viennese author (1833-1906) was preoccupied even at this late stage with the subject of adolescent development and the choice of soul-mates. The text-critical apparatus and the history of the author's treatment of the material centre on the genesis of this Erzählung. The interpretation demonstrates that "Hymen" interweaves the intellectual, scientific and social currents prevalent in turn-of-the-century Vienna with a large number of topoi culled from the history of ideas.