[en] The physics potential is briefly summarized for an e⁺e^- linear collider operating at center-of-mass energies up to √(s) = 1 TeV and delivering integrated luminosities up to ∫ L = 0.5 ab^-1 in one to two years. This machine will allow us to perform precision studies of the top quark and the electroweak gauge bosons at the per-mille level. It will be an ideal instrument to investigate the properties of the Higgs boson and to establish essential elements of the Higgs mechanism as the fundamental mechanism for breaking the electroweak symmetries. In the area beyond the standard model, new particles and their interactions can be discovered and explored comprehensively. In supersymmetric theories, the mechanism of the symmetry breaking can be investigated experimentally and the underlying unified theory can be reconstructed. The high precision allows stable extrapolations up to scales near the Planck mass. (orig.)