Electron emission from ferroelectric materials is initiated by a variation of the spontaneous polarization. It is the main focus of this work to develop ferroelectric cathodes, which are characterized by a significantly decreased excitation voltage required to initiate the electron emission process. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the polarization on the emission process. Two materials are investigated. Firstly, relaxor ferroelectric lead magnesium niobate - lead titanate (PMN-PT) single crystals are chosen because of their low intrinsic coercive field. Electron emission current densities up to 5 · 10^(−5) A/cm² are achieved for excitation voltages of 160 V. A strong enhancement of the emission current is revealed for the onset of a complete polarization reversal. Secondly, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films are investigated. A new method to prepare top electrodes with sub-micrometer sized, regularly patterned apertures is introduced and a stable electron emission signal is measured from these structures for switching voltages < 20 V. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the polarization switching process in the PMN-PT samples is given, revealingrna spatial rotation of the polarization vector into crystallographic easy axes, as well as the nucleation of reversed nano-domains. Both processes are initiated at field strengths well below the coercive field. The dynamics of the polarization reversal are correlated to the electron emission measurements, thus making it possible to optimize the efficiency of the investigated cathodes.