The edition of Jakob von Bruck's Emblemata politica opens up a source of great significance, especially for the history of the development of emblematics. This book, which was published in 1618 but conceived of as early as 1612, is one of the first books, if not the very first, to be written on the subject of political emblems. The author, then occupied in Silesia as a tutor for his aristocratic pupils, had been able to expand his knowledge of emblematics on study trips to Heidelberg and Strassburg. He used it as a didactic medium here, but also in order to make a political stand for the status quo in Silesia in the precarious situation prevailing due to the impending conflict of the 30 Years' War. From the forms and motifs of emblems in use at the time and from creations of his own, he developed a highly innovative work revealing literature, art and teaching as well as the political publishing of the time.Straßburg und Köln 1618