There are considered the social and historical realities of Russia, which were the background for German- Russian and Russian-German dictionaries in the XIX century; analyzed the determinative factors and prerequisites of development of German-Russian lexicography and revealed the influence of social and historical conditions on the formation of its aims.

Tatar - Russian and Russian - Tatar ideographic dictionaries are regarded as the product of Russian reality and its reflection. The rubricators of dictionaries are compared on the basis of thematic filling.