From October 1900, the Volksbildungsverein Wiesbaden published a series called "Wiesbadener Volksbücher" in large quantities, which developed into an extremely successful paperback series and was distributed throughout the German-speaking world. This was preceded in the second half of the 19th century by the development of efficient printing and bookbinding machines as well as revolutionary innovations in paper production, which made it possible to produce books in large numbers at low prices.

With selected texts, the Wiesbadener Volksbücher were intended to distribute "trashy literature" from households in an appealing layout at a low price. The "Stadtpfeifer" by Wilhelm Heinrich von Riehl appeared as No. 1 of the Wiesbadener Volksbücher. Each booklet had an introduction to the poet and his work. The authors selected were mainly from the second half of the 19th century (some of whom were still alive), such as Wilhelm Raabe, Peter Rosegger and Marie von Ebner Eschenbach, but also contemporary writers such as Hermann Hesse.

The success was immense: in the third year of its existence, 350,000 copies were sold from a total of 34 titles, and by 1904/05, total sales had already exceeded the million mark. During the First World War, annual sales constantly exceeded one million because soldiers at the front requested the Volksbücher as reading material. By 1933, over 250 titles had been published with a paid circulation of more than 13 million copies.

In 1936, the Volksbildungsverein was dissolved and the Volksbücher were published by a newly founded "Deutsche Volksbücher GmbH", which moved its publishing headquarters to Stuttgart in 1938. In the post-war period, the series, which had retained its name until the end, was discontinued.