The essay examines the reception of Gerhard Richter in a range of historical writing and exhibitions both in and outside Germany. Drawing on critical theories of reception, it is argued that the history of Richter's oeuvre is created as much by the artist himself-who actively controls the construct of his oeuvre-as by curators, critics, scholars, and biographers. The heterogeneity of Richter's work provided a basis for scholars to integrate Richter into the historical models of the neo-avant-garde and postmodernity. A return to narrative, iconography and, ultimately, biography in Richter's reception came with an increased art historical interest in German postwar art in relation to historical trauma. With the biographical turn, certain works by Richter became the subjects of almost contradictory narratives and stories and ultimately, deceptive witnesses of an exemplary German history.