19th century historian Leopold von Ranke initiated the publication of a Documentary Edition of the Proceedings of the Holy Roman Imperial Diets during the Reformation period.

From its very beginning, the “Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences” (Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften) in Munich administered and supervised this very important and relevant scholarly project.

In the meantime, the Documentary Edition of the Holy Roman Imperial Diets covers four different sections. The late Middle Ages (1376-1485 – Ältere Reihe), the Diets during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1486-1518 – Mittlere Reihe), the Diets convoked by Emperor Charles V (1519-1555 – Jüngere Reihe), and, finally, the Assemblies of the Holy Roman Empire beyond and including the Diets (1556-1662 – Reichsversammlungen).  

From 1978, the documentary editing of the proceedings of the Imperial Diets largely rested on a team of highly qualified historians working at the Department of History, University of Vienna, directed and supervised first by professor Heinrich Lutz (+) from 1978 to 1986, and since 1989 by emeritus professor Eike Wolgast from Heidelberg University. The documentary edition of the Imperial Diets during the reign of Charles V (Jüngere Reihe) is nearly complete, as from the originally projected 21 volumes in this series, 19 volumes already appeared in print. Before the project resumed its work at the University of Vienna, vols. 1 to 4, and vols. 7 to 8 appeared from 1893 until 1971.

Since the documentary editing continued the project at the University of Vienna’s Department of History, the vols. listed below have appeared in print:

• Volume 5/6: Rosemarie Aulinger, Der Reichstag zu Augsburg 1525. Der Reichstag zu Speyer 1526. Der Fürstentag zu Esslingen 1526 (München 2011)
• Volume 10: Rosemarie Aulinger, Der Reichstag in Regensburg und die Verhandlungen über einen Friedstand mit den Protestanten in Schweinfurt und Nürnberg 1532 (Göttingen 1992)
• Volume 11: Albrecht P. Luttenberger (prepared for publishing by Christiane Neerfeld), Der Reichstag zu Regensburg 1541 (Berlin/München/Boston 2018)
• Volume 12: Silvia Schweinzer-Burian, Der Reichstag zu Speyer 1542 (München 2003)
• Volume 13: Silvia Schweinzer-Burian, Der Reichstag zu Nürnberg 1542 (München 2010)
• Volume 14: Silvia Schweinzer-Burian (includes preparatory works for this volume by Friedrich Edelmayer), Der Reichstag zu Nürnberg 1543. The manuscript is almost finished (projected date of appearance: 2020).Volume 15: Erwein Eltz, Der Speyrer Reichstag von 1544 (Göttingen 2001)
• Volume 16: Rosemarie Aulinger, Der Reichstag zu Worms 1545 (München 2003)
• Volume 17: Rosemarie Aulinger, Der Reichstag zu Regensburg 1546 (München 2005)
• Volume 18: Ursula Machoczek, Der Reichstag zu Augsburg 1547/48 (München 2006)
• Volume 19: Erwein H. Eltz, Der Reichstag zu Augsburg 1550/51 (München 2005)
• Volume 20: Rosemarie Aulinger, Erwein Eltz, Ursula Machoczek, Der Reichstag zu Augsburg 1555 (München 2009)
• Volume  21: Annelies Grundmann, Rosemarie Aulinger, Die Beschwerden der Deutschen Nation auf den Reichstagen der Reformationszeit (1521–1530) (Berlin, München, Boston 2015)