Peter Schäfer's essay Paul Celan's Golem is an ingenious combination of research into the history of ideas and interpretation of poetry. In the first part of the essay, the author presents the Golem legend in its historical development. The subsequent interpretation of Celan's poem “Einem, der vor der Tür stand” from the 1963 book Die Niemandsrose elucidates how Celan's text inscribes itself into the old legend of the magical power over the destructive protector of Jews, not only those of Prague. Peter Schäfer is a member of the order Pour le mérite and corresponding member of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He taught Jewish Studies at Princeton University and was Director of the Jewish Museum