The HERA-B experiment is being built to measure CP violation in the B-system using internal targets at the HERA proton storage ring at DESY. This paper presents an overview of its vertex detector which - apart from an additional superlayer - is realized by a system of 20 Roman pots containing seven superlayers of double-sided silicon microstrip detectors that are operated at 10 mm distance from the proton beam in a high-radiation environment. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.