Der Große Ploetz is a German encyclopedia of world history and a standard historical reference book.
It is a collection of historical data and information, organized in a chronological and geographical fashion.
[1] The first edition was published in 1863 by Karl Julius Ploetz, with the title Auszug der alten, mittleren und neueren Geschichte als Leitfaden und Repetitionen veröffentlichten Werk.
[2] During its history, many notable historians have contributed to the book, including Friedrich Prinz, Werner Conze, and Andreas Hillgruber.
The German newspaper Die Welt wrote of the new revision, The Ploetz has reconquered its position as the most important historical reference book and, due to its new appearance, is able to compete with Wikipedia.