Modernity as a literary 'event' is in fact the result of a long and arduous process marked by critical and poetological disputes and decisively shaping the literary landscape in German-speaking countries from the middle of the century to 1900. Proceeding from the concepts of realistic literary policy formulated by liberalist authors (Haym, Spielhagen, Freytag), moving from there to the self-confident urbanity of Gründerzeit criticism (Karl Frenzel, Paul Lindau), and concluding with the polemical and programmatic journalism of naturalism, the study reconstructs the contemporary settings for the disputes and debates taking place in this half-century. In its course, the influence of the youthful discipline Literary Studies also becomes apparent.