This Festschrift on Hans-Jurgen Kerner's 70th birthday pays tribute to a legal expert and criminologist whose work and impact which, while meeting high scholarly standards, never lost its practical relevance. The interdisciplinarity of his work and his endeavors to participate actively in the shaping of criminal policy are important aspects of this work. At a time in which German criminology is once again dealing intensively and critically with its history and its criminological and scholarly significance, the Festschrift, with articles on criminology, crime prevention and criminal policy, criminal law and criminal law relating to young offenders as well as criminal procedure and execution of a prison sentence, also contributes to raising the awareness of the scholarly profile of criminology.