This study deals with religious controversies of Reformation Germany. The first part focuses on the rhetorical structure of single pamphlets and on the way the pamphlets build up to a controversy with two or more participants. Three case studies illustrate how the controversies worked: 1) the controversy on Martin Luther's »An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation« (1520), 2) the controversy on Friedrich Staphylus' »Theologiae Martini Lutheri Trimembris Epitome« (1558) first led in Latin and later in German and 3) the controversy on Lucas Osianders »Warnung Vor der Jesuiter blut durstigen Anschlägen« (1585). The second part discusses the cultural and sociological background of the controversies. The third part approaches ways of polemic writing in sources like accounts of conversion, sermons and more literary genres like poetry and plays.