The study examines in detail the reception accorded to the works of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in the GDR. The initial phase of the transmission process took place in the late 1930s and early 1940s when Neruda established contact with leftwing exiles during the Spanish Civil War, subsequently in Mexico City, and in occupied Germany after World War II. The core chapters correlate the changing cultural and political situation in the GDR with the introduction and critical adumbration of Neruda’s output. A separate chapter deals with the stage productions of his works, and the conclusion traces briefly the reception of Neruda’s works in the Federal Republic of Germany, highlighting the initial contrast and recent convergence of Marxist and non-Marxist criticism of Neruda.