Acer palmatum 'Herbstfeuer', whose German name translates to 'Autumn Fire', is a vigorous, upright Japanese maple valued for its dense branching, broad green leaves, and brilliant orange-red autumn coloration. Its precise selection location, original selector, and first commercial introduction year remain undocumented. Its botanical parentage is also uncertain. Specialist nursery Junker's Nursery reports that the cultivar may be a hybrid between Acer palmatum and Acer circinatum, citing its unusually large leaves and rounded lobes. Kigi Nursery markets it as Acer palmatum x circinatum, while horticultural discussions referencing C. van Gelderen describe that parentage as a possibility rather than an established controlled cross. The cultivar was documented in cultivation by 2005 and appears in subsequent American nursery and arboretum records. These dates demonstrate availability, not original selection or introduction. No cultivar-specific patent or registered trademark was established from the available evidence.