The aim of the study is to reveal the dynamics of transformation in the semantic structure of German anthropomorphic metaphors of the 17th-18th centuries, based on the private letters from writing guides that represent the stylistic norm relevant to their time. The article presents a classification of 407 fragments of figurative renaming, identifies 12 thematic categories that form the motivational system of tropes, and compares its functioning in three diachronic sections. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this work is the first to provide a chronological stratification of the system of anthropomorphic metaphors at the final stage of the formation of the German national language, differentiating the invariant and variable strategies of creating metaphors. As a result of the study, it was established that the dominant transpositional model is the conative metaphor, the source domain of which lies in purposeful human actions; Baroque texts are characterized by a focus on physiological and social aspects, while the Enlightenment period focuses on personal qualities and cognitive abilities, and sentimentalism is predominated by emotive metaphors.