Along with the poems, the Strassburg Heldenbuch of Diebolt von Hanow included an introductory essay, now called the "Heldenbuch-Prosa" ("Heldenbuch Prose"), which was copied by all the later printed editions, either as a preface or as an afterword. The "Heldenbuch-Prosa" is also transmitted in a printed book of "Sigenot", "Das Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid", and "Laurin" (Lübeck, 1560), and excerpts are printed in a printing of "Laurin" (Nuremberg, 1555). It presents "a brief survey in prose form of the most important figures and events of German medieval heroic poetry". The Heldenbuch-Prosa offers an all-encompassing depiction of the entire heroic age, partially in the form of a narrative, partially in the form of a catalog of names. It is structured both genealogically and geographically, dividing the heroes into those from around Aachen and Cologne, those from Hunland, and those from Worms. The compiler's use of prose may indicate a claim for the historical veracity of the account.