Microlithographic illumination system for illuminating an illumination field with illumination light from a primary light source, - comprising a first raster arrangement with beam-forming first raster elements, which are arranged in a first plane of the illumination system or adjacent thereto, for generating a raster arrangement of secondary light sources, - comprising a transfer optical unit (15, 17) for superposed transfer of the illumination light from the secondary light sources into the illumination field, - wherein the transfer optical unit (15, 17) comprises a second raster arrangement with beam-forming second raster elements, - wherein respectively one of the raster elements of the first raster arrangement is assigned to one of the raster elements of the second raster arrangement for guiding a partial beam of a whole beam of the illumination light, - wherein the illumination light is subdivided into a number of partial beams corresponding to the number of illuminated first raster elements on account of the beam-forming effect of the first raster elements of the first raster arrangement, - wherein the second raster elements of the second raster arrangement are assigned to the first raster elements of the first raster arrangement for guiding the respective partial beam, characterized in that - at least one of the two raster arrangements has at least two types (I, II, III) of the raster elements, said types differing in terms of the beam-influencing effect thereof, wherein the beam-influencing effect is a converging effect, - wherein the raster elements (24, 26) of the two raster arrangements (12, 15) are arranged relative to one another in such a way that at least one individual free gap (Δ I, Δ II, Δ III) is assigned to each raster element of one of the raster element types (I to III) of one of the raster arrangements, said gap being between the raster element of this type (I to III) and the assigned raster element of the other raster arrangement. - comprising a first raster arrangement with beam-forming first raster elements, which are arranged in a first plane of the illumination system or adjacent thereto, for generating a raster arrangement of secondary light sources, - comprising a transfer optical unit (15, 17) for superposed transfer of the illumination light from the secondary light sources into the illumination field, - wherein the transfer optical unit (15, 17) comprises a second raster arrangement with beam-forming second raster elements, - wherein respectively one of the raster elements of the first raster arrangement is assigned to one of the raster elements of the second raster arrangement for guiding a partial beam of a whole beam of the illumination light, - wherein the illumination light is subdivided into a number of partial beams corresponding to the number of illuminated first raster elements on account of the beam-forming effect of the first raster elements of the first raster arrangement, - wherein the second raster elements of the second raster arrangement are assigned to the first raster elements of the first raster arrangement for guiding the respective partial beam, - at least one of the two raster arrangements has at least two types (I, II, III) of the raster elements, said types differing in terms of the beam-influencing effect thereof, wherein the beam-influencing effect is a converging effect, - wherein the raster elements (24, 26) of the two raster arrangements (12, 15) are arranged relative to one another in such a way that at least one individual free gap (Δ I, Δ II, Δ III) is assigned to each raster element of one of the raster element types (I to III) of one of the raster arrangements, said gap being between the raster element of this type (I to III) and the assigned raster element of the other raster arrangement.