Raman spectroscopy is currently advertised as hot and ambitious technology, which brings all features to the table needed to characterize and identify bacteria. Rapidness, ease-of-use and non-invasiveness are persistently referred to as reasons, why Raman spectroscopy might complement established classical microbiological and biomolecular methods in the near future. To bring this vision closer to reality, ongoing research is being conducted nowadays, which shall be resumed here: Thus, we show that by spectral fingerprinting, a wealth of information even from single bacteria from various habitats can be gained. This wealth is further improved by combining Raman spectroscopy with methods like stable-isotope probing to elucidate microbial interactions. In conjunction with extensive statistical analysis, Raman spectroscopy finally allows to identify (non)pathogenic bacteria on different taxonomic levels.