In 1624, Martin Opitz published Buch von der Deutschen Poeterey, a major treatise on German verse. He argued for disciplined metres, classical models and the literary dignity of the German language. The book appeared as war and confessional conflict unsettled German lands.

Opitz helped standardise German poetic practice and gave later baroque poets a formal programme. His reforms influenced metre, diction and genre, encouraging writers to treat German as a serious vehicle for learned poetry.