The fact that Theodor W. Adorno, in his 1951 "Rede über Lyrik und Gesellschaft" (Speech on Poetry and Society), chose a poem by the Biedermeier writer Eduard Mörike, of all people, not only to approach the relationship between social conditionality and lyrical expression, but also to demonstrate the utopian potential of poetry, may at first seem surprising. At first glance, Mörike's "Auf einer Wanderung" (On a Hike), published in 1845, embodies the escapist retreat into the apolitical, homely and idyllic that Biedermeier poetry has repeatedly been accused of. And indeed, "On a Hike" can initially be read as an escape from the world: A hiker crosses a small town in the evening sunshine, where he encounters no people, but instead a synaesthetically densely woven atmosphere, enriched by "floral piles".