Leibnitz wrote in Latin and French, and his culture was mainly French.

His follower, Christian Wolf, however, first used the German language for philosophical writing.

But in poetry, Klopstock and Wieland, and, in serious prose, Lessing and Herder, led the way to the great period of German literature.

In this period the name of Goethe holds the field, alike in prose and poetry.
Goethe was born in 1749, and hence it was the last quarter of the century which saw him reach his zenith.

Next to Goethe comes his younger contemporary, Schiller.