German encyclopaedia published in 25 volumes in Mannheim, W.Ger., from 1971 to 1979. The encyclopaedia was first published in Leipzig as the Meyers Grosses Konversations-Lexikon in 46 volumes in 1840–52. Subsequent editions occupied fewer volumes, the 4th edition (1885–90), for example, appearing in 17 volumes. The 8th edition was strongly influenced by Nazi ideology and was incompletely published in 1936–42 in nine volumes.

The 9th edition, bearing the current title, marked a return to the quality and standards achieved by the earlier editions. Their scholarly, unbiased approach is once again evident in the modern set, which combines about 250,000 brief dictionary-like entries with lengthier articles accompanied by extensive bibliographies. Meyers is copiously illustrated with thousands of small high-quality photographs and other illustrations. Its geographic articles are detailed and have maps and charts. Biographies include those of living persons. The 100 special signed contributions mentioned in the full title are lengthy essays on major topics, whose authors are identified on the title page of each volume. An atlas appeared in 1974.