The official title of this edition is D. Martin Luthers Werke: kritische Gesammtausgabe.
Also included are Luther's Table Talk (Tischreden), Letters (Briefe), and Bible Translation (Die deutsche Bibel).
The three subseries (Tischreden, Die deutsche Bibel, and Briefwechsel) are numbered separately.
Over the 120 years many editors have collaborated to prepare the contents, which have not been published in exact chronological order.
It was undertaken under the direction of a commission appointed by the Prussian Ministry of Education: a supervisory role was continued by the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften after the demise of the government of Prussia.