This conversation between Ilan Stavans and Volker Harm starts with a survey on the history of German lexicography which, in a broader picture, is described as a process of emancipation from bilingual lexicography with Latin toward monolingual lexicography of German. The overview ranges from the glossaries of the Middle Ages, the sixteenth-century schoolmaster dictionaries of Dasypodius and Fries, the benchmark work of Adelung, to the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch of the Brothers Grimm and their contemporaries, notably the dictionary of Daniel Sanders. It also includes a glimpse on recent online dictionaries such as DWDS, the Duden, and Wortgeschichte digital, the dictionary Harm is currently working on. The status of dictionaries in German culture, and especially the relation of Grimm’s dictionary toward its audience, is explored as well. Another focus is on the practice of dictionary-making. A brief insight is given into Harm’s work on several historical dictionaries – printed and online – his academic background, and what his motivation was to start with the very special job of a dictionary worker.