Pope's writings: The writings of Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, went straight in at number one on Germany's book charts yesterday, toppling the latest Harry Potter.
The German version of online retailer Amazon showed his books in the top four spots, and seven titles in the top 10.
Top of the pile was Salz der Erde (Salt of the Earth), the transcript of a mammoth interview the new Pope gave almost a decade ago. It was not in the top 100 on Tuesday afternoon
The latest adventures of JK Rowling's boy wizard Harry Potter were a runaway bestseller even before release in July. But the book was consigned to fifth place in the charts, which track orders over the past 24 hours.
The two other titles were novels by US author Dan Brown, whose The Da Vinci Code was denounced by the Vatican as an insult to the Christian faith.
Salz der Erde publishers, Heyne, part of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, said they were printing more after a surge of interest in recent days.
The Pope's latest book, Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs (Values in Times of Upheaval), was already sold out after its release a week ago.