The two-volume edition highlights what was thought about images – especially cultically used images – in German-speaking Europe during the 16th century. The compilation of 60 texts by 47 authors serves to reconstruct the first media debate, which was conducted almost exclusively in German. Many of the texts are published here for the first time in over 400 years, with the aim of allowing as many theologically and politically diverse authors as possible to have their say, such as Johannes Butzbach, Geiler von Kaysersberg, Hieronymus Emser, Ludwig Hätzer, Martin Bucer, Hugo von Hohenlandenberg, Paracelsus, Sebastian Franck, Martin Chemnitz, Johann Arndt, Hippolyt Guarinonius, and others. The texts are commented on with notes and a comprehensive afterword. Detailed subject indexes provide targeted access to the German scholarly literature.