The publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 signalled the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Although he had initially only exchanged his ideas verbally and in letters with scholars and theologians, Luther quickly realised the potential that printing held for the dissemination of his ideas. The massive interest in the overhaul of religious beliefs and practices in Germany led to a flood of popular prints and pamphlets which the reformers used to spread their ideology. These prints appeared in print runs of an unprecedented scale: 2,400 popular prints appeared in 1524 alone, with a total of 2.4 million copies distributed. This was, of course, a great business opportunity for printers of the era. An upsurge in the printing trade was also palpable in those areas that had already begun to experience the changes brought about by the Reformation.

Most of these publications emerged in the years between 1521 and 1525, by which time the Reformation was firmly established in many areas of Germany. Pamphlet production also reached high points in 1530 and 1546/47. The widescale success of Luther’s translation of the Bible can also be traced back to this period. The complete edition of his Bible translation, which first appeared in 1534, had sold 100,000 copies by the time of Luther’s death in 1534. The Reformation is viewed retroactively as the first historical process to be fundamentally influenced by printing.