Eugen Wüster’s posthumous handbook of terminology has had three separate editions in the original German, and each has its own preface, written by various authorities involved in the field. Analysis of these prefaces shows an unmistakable progression. The first simply recounts how the handbook was completed following the author’s death. The second presents the handbook as a response to those who criticize Wüster’s theoretical stance. The third places the work in the bigger picture of the history of linguistics and presents it as the inauguration of a new branch of linguistics applied to language for special purposes. These viewpoints, completed by contemporary German-language sources, shed light on the way Wüster’s legacy is perceived in Central Europe and thereby put French-language criticisms into perspective.