EN
Bilingual illustrated and picture dictionaries are an interesting example of a combination of verbal and iconic message. They enable to learn foreign-language lexis in connection with the subject knowledge about the world and the terminology in one’s native language. This is the reason for the growing popularity of this type of lexicographic publications in the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. In the paper the author presents the analysis of six illustrated or picture Polish-German and German-Polish dictionaries published in the years 1954-2008. They include onomasiological thematic dictionaries as well as semasiological dictionaries with an alphabetical order. The subject of analysis are the structure and the vocabulary range, choice of headwords and their connection with the graphic material, microstructure of entries. The analysis also includes the questions of function and directionality of the dictionaries, as well as the influence of the extralinguistic reality – political and the market reality – on the conception and the design of dictionaries.