Minnesang, the German tradition of courtly love lyric poetry, emerged around 1150 under influence from French troubadour and trouvère traditions. Early Minnesänger like Der von Kürenberg and Dietmar von Aist adapted courtly love themes to German cultural contexts, while later poets like Walther von der Vogelweide expanded the genre's thematic range.

Minnesang established Middle High German as a literary language capable of expressing subtle emotional and philosophical content, influencing later German poetry and drama. The tradition's evolution from simple strophic forms to complex metrical patterns demonstrated German poets' technical sophistication and engagement with international literary trends. Minnesang's focus on individual emotional experience contributed to developing concepts of interiority and subjectivity in German literature.