Alexander’s ‘Minneleich’ represents the poet’s most aesthetically ambitious text and brings the author-specific procedure of allegorically dressed speech to a climax. The paper aims at a new interpretation of Alexander’s ‘Leich’, which is philologically based on a different assessment of the textual sources, so that J (‘Jenaer Liederhandschrift’) is taken as the textual basis; for the hermeneutical understanding, the poetological dimension of the text as well as the influence of design patterns of the ‘heraldic code’ in courtly literature are emphasized. In this light, the ‘Leich’ proves to be an important literary testimony for a ‘Minnesang’ characterized by ‘imaginary fictionality’. Furthermore, Alexander’s ‘Leich’ reveals the poetic potential of ‘literary heraldry’ for medieval courtly literature and culture.