Dedicated to Professor Rolf Huisgen on the occasion of his 85th birthdayThe controlling of the internal interaction in multichromophores leads to functional dyes with novel properties. Such a controlling is demonstrated with perylene dyes and offers a manifold of novel possibilities.1. Introduction. ± Chromophores are responsible for the color of matter and are the basis of well established applications of dyes [1] such as textile dyes, pigments [2], and inks. Whereas the chemistry for such examples is highly developed, chromophores in novel applications are gaining increasing importance; the keywords being functional dyes, these novel applications, in contrast to the well established ones, have recently undergone a very rapid development, the end of which cannot yet be seen. Single chromophores are used in the majority of such novel applications, mostly derived from well investigated basic structures the properties of which were adopted to the requirements of the application. However, such a concept does by far not exhaust the possibilities of chromophores because an even larger range becomes accessible by the interactions in multichromophoric systems. Such a range is not just of interest for novel applications. Nature demonstrates, for example with the photosynthesis reaction center [3 ± 5] and the flower pigments [6 ± 8], how special properties can be obtained by such interactions. However, for this, suitable building blocks are required.