auguste von kotzebue

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August von Kotzebue 1

August von Kotzebue

August von Kotzebue

Born 3 May 1761

Weimar

Died 23 March 1819 (aged 57)

Mannheim

Resting place Mannheim

Occupation Author

Language German

Alma mater University of Duisburg

August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (German: [ast fn ktsbu]; 3 May [O.S. 22 April] 1761 23

March [O.S. 11 March] 1819) was a German dramatist and author who also worked as a consul in Russia.

One of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival in 1817. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl

Ludwig Sand, a militant member of the Burschenschaften. This murder gave Metternich the pretext to issue the

Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, which dissolved the Burschenschaften, cracked down on the liberal press, and seriously

restricted academic freedom in the states of the German Confederation.

Life

Kotzebue was born in Weimar to a respected merchant family and was educated at Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium in

Weimar, where his uncle, the writer and critic Johann Karl August Musus was among his teachers. In 1776 the

young Kotzebue acted alongside Goethe in the latter s play Die Geschwisterwhen it premiered in Weimar.[1] In

1777, aged sixteen, he enrolled at the University of Jena to study legal science. He continued his studies at the

University of Duisburg, graduating in 1780, and practiced initially as a lawyer in Weimar.

Through his association with Graf Goertz, Prussian ambassador at the Russian court, Kotzebue became secretary to

the Governor General of Saint Petersburg. In 1783 he was appointed assessor to the high court of appeals in Reval,

where he married the daughter of a Russian lieutenant general. He was ennobled in 1785 and became president of the

Magistratof the Governorate of Estonia, a province of the Russian Empire.
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In Reval his first literary works where favourably received. His novelsDie Leiden der Ortenbergischen Familie (The

Sorrows of the Ortenberg Family) (1785) and Geschichte meines Vaters (History of my Father) (1788) met with

appreciation; even more so did his playsAdelheid von Wulfingen (1789),Menschenhass und Reue (Misanthropy and

Repentance) (1790) andDie Indianer in England(The Indians in England) (1790).

The good reputation of these works was, however, almost destroyed by a controversial dramatic satire, Doktor

Bahrdt mit der eisernen Stirn (Doctor Bahrdt with the Iron Brow), which appeared in 1790 with the name of Kniggeon the title page. Written in response to contention between J.G. Zimmermann and leaders of Berlin's party of the

Enlightenment, it linked each of Zimmermann's opponents to a particular sexual perversion. Kotzebue denied

authorship, even when the police began to investigate the matter. This alienated both Zimmermann and Knigge,

formerly his allies, and also gained Kotzebue a reputation for dishonesty and lasciviousness that he would never

shake off.

After the death of his first wife, Kotzebue retired from the Russian service and lived for a time in Paris and Mainz. In

1795 he settled on an estate which he had acquired near Reval and devoted himself to writing. In the space of only a

few years, he published six volumes of miscellaneous sketches and stories (Die jngsten Kinder meiner Laune,

17931796) and more than twenty plays, many of which were translated into several European languages.

In 1798 he was appointed dramatist to the court theatre in Vienna, but differences with the actors soon obliged him

to resign. He then returned to his native town, but as he was not on good terms with the powerful Goethe and had

openly attacked the romantic style for which Goethe was known, his position in Weimar was uncomfortable.

In April 1800 he decided to return to Saint Petersburg, but on his journey there he was arrested at the border on

suspicion of being a Jacobin and was transported to Siberia. However, he had written a comedy which flattered the

vanity of Emperor Paul I of Russia; he was quickly brought back, presented with an estate from the crown lands of

Livonia, and appointed director of the German theatre in Saint Petersburg. Kotzebue wrote about this period in his

life in the autobiographicalDas merkwrdigste Jahr meines Lebens (The strangest Year of my Life).

Kotzebue returned to Germany in 1801, after the assassination of Tsar Paul I. Failing to establish himself in

Weimar's literary circles, he moved to Berlin, where he edited Der Freimutige in collaboration with Garlieb Merkelfrom 1803 to 1807. In 1803 he began hisAlmanach dramatischer Spiele (Almanac of the Dramatic Arts), which was

published posthumously in 1820.

In 1806, after Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Kotzebue fled to Russia and, in the safety of his

estate in Estonia, wrote many satirical articles against Napoleon Bonaparte, published in his journalsDie Biene (The

Bee) andDie Grille (The Cricket).

He started working for the department of foreign affairs in Saint Petersburg in 1816 and was sent to Germany as

consul general for Russia a year later. Some suspected him of being a spy, and this view persisted for a long time,

but in modern times it has been shown to be unfounded: he reported only on matters that were already public

knowledge. Nevertheless, it is fair to say he was Russia's advocate in Germany.[2]

Assassination

In a weekly journal (Literarisches Wochenblatt) which he published in Weimar, he scoffed at the pretensions of

those Germans who demanded free institutions, and soon became detested by nationalist liberals. One of them, Karl

Ludwig Sand, a theology student, plotted to kill him. On 18 March 1819, soon after Kotzebue had moved with his

family to Mannheim, Sand attacked Kotzebue at his house. According to Alexandre Dumas, pre, when one of

Kotzebue's children appeared and started to cry, Sand became overwrought and stabbed himself.

Sand was arrested and carefully nursed back to health. At his trial, he protested that Kotzebue was an enemy of the

German people,[3]

but he was convicted of the murder and executed later that year.

The assassination of Kotzebue provided Prince Metternich with arguments to convince the Confederation to enact

the Carlsbad Decrees, imposing greater restrictions on universities and the press.
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Work

Portrait of Kotzebue in Weimar

Though he was unfavourably reviewed by criticsmany of whom saw

his work as immoralKotzebue was one of the most popular writers

of his time. In his essay "Why Do I Have So Many Enemies?", he

blamed jealousy of his fame. He was politically conservative and

cosmopolitan in outlook and spoke out against the antisemitism of

student nationalists.

He was approached in 1812 by Beethoven, who suggested that

Kotzebue write the libretto for an opera about Attila, which was never

written. Beethoven did, however, produce incidental music for two of

Kotzebue's plays, The Ruins of Athens (Beethoven's opus 113) and

King Stephen (opus 117).

Besides his plays, Kotzebue wrote several historical works: his History

of the German Empires was burned by nationalist students at the 1817

Wartburg Festival (which Sand attended).

Still read are his autobiographical writings, Meine Flucht nach Paris

im Winter 1790 (1791), ber meinen Aufenthalt in Wien (1799), Das

merkwrdigste Jahr meines Lebens (1801), Erinnerungen aus Paris

(1804), andErinnerungen von meiner Reise aus Liefland nach Rom und Neapel (1805).

As a dramatist he was extremely prolific: his plays numbered over 200 and were highly popular, not only in

Germany but throughout Europe. His success, however, was seen as due less to any conspicuous literary or poetic

ability than to his great facility in the invention of effective situations. He is at his best in comedies such as Der

Wildfang,Die beiden Klingsberg andDie deutschen Kleinstdter, which contain cameos of German life. These plays

held the stage in Germany long after the once-famous Menschenhass und Reue (Misanthropy and Repentance, butknown in England as The Stranger), Graf Benjowsky, and ambitious exotic tragedies like Die Sonnenjungfrau and

Die Spanier in Peru (which Sheridan adapted asPizarro) were forgotten.

Theatre historians usually consider the runaway success ofThe Stranger, the English version ofMenschenhass und

Reue, in both England (where it opened in 1798) and the United States as one of the harbingers of the emerging

popularity of theatrical melodrama, which dominated European and American stages for the first seventy-five years

of the nineteenth century.

Two collections of Kotzebue's dramas were published during his lifetime: Schauspiele (5 vols., 1797); Neue

Schauspiele (23 vols., 17981820). His Smtliche dramatische Werke appeared in 44 volumes in 18271829, and

again, under the title Theater, in 40 volumes in 18401841. A selection of his plays in 10 volumes appeared in

Leipzig in 18671868. See Heinrich Doring, A. von Kotzebues Leben (1830); W. von Kotzebue, A. von Kotzebue

(1881); Ch. Rabany,Kotzebue, sa vie et son temps (1893); W. Sellier,Kotzebue in England(1901).
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Legacy

Kotzebue was the father of 18 children, among them Moritz von Kotzebue, Paul Demetrius Kotzebue, Alexander

Kotzebue and the explorer Otto von Kotzebue.

Kotzebue Street in Kalamaja, Tallinn, Estonia, is named after him and other family members who lived on the street,

especially his son Otto.

References

[1] Gerhard Schulz,Die deutsche Literatur zwischen Franzsischer Revolution und Restauration/ Teil 1 Geschichte der deutschen Literatur von

den Anfngen bis zur Gegenwart/ begr. von Helmut de Boor .... Bd. 7, Teil 1, Das Zeitalter der Franzsischen Revolution : 17891806, 2.,

neubearb. Aufl., Mnchen, Beck, 2000, S. 472

[2] Williamson, G.S. (2000). "What Killed August von Kotzebue? The Temptations of Virtue and the Political Theology German Nationalism,

17891819.". The Journal of Modern History72 (4): 890943. doi:10.1086/318549 (Dec., 2000).

[3] Dumas pre, Alexandre. "Karl Ludwig Sand". Celebrated Crimes. Volume IV. Wildside Classics. pp. 1376.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).

Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

Works by August von Kotzebue (http://www.gutenberg.org/author/August+von+Kotzebue) at Project

Gutenberg

Works of August von Kotzebue in German (http://www.epoche-napoleon.net/texte/k/kotzebue.html) by

EPOCHE NAPOLEON (http://www.epoche-napoleon.net)
http://www.epoche-napoleon.net/http://www.epoche-napoleon.net/texte/k/kotzebue.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Gutenberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Gutenberghttp://www.gutenberg.org/author/August+von+Kotzebuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Editionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_domainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexandre_Dumas%2C_p%C3%A8rehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kalamajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_von_Kotzebuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Kotzebuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Kotzebuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Demetrius_Kotzebue


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Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and ContributorsAugust von Kotzebue Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=512446181 Contributors: Abc10, Adam Keller, Amherst99, Angr, Ashburnite, Attilios, Auntieruth55, BD2412,

Blinder Seher, Bob Burkhardt, Ccady, Charles Matthews, D6, Deb, DrG, Draeco, Dthomsen8, Dyuku, Eldamorie, Flying Saucer, Good Olfactory, Grommel, Jaanusele, Jan olieslagers, Jmabel,

John K, KF, Kam Solusar, Kleinzach, Kwamikagami, Longprom, MBisanz, Magnus Manske, Manishearth, Mortdefides, MrKIA11, Neddyseagoon, Neko-chan, NikolajM, Oiophron, Olessi,

Omnipaedista, Piotrus, Postmodernista, Ravn, Rigadoun, Rjwilmsi, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, ShelfSkewed, Sillyfolkboy, Squiretuck, Staffelde, Stfg, Tabletop, Timeineurope, Truelight234,

UtherSRG, VanHelsing.16, Woohookitty, Zapiens, 32 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:August von Kotzebue.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:August_von_Kotzebue.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Materialscientist, Most Curious,

Mutter Erde, WolfgangRieger

Image:AugustVonKotzebueS135.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AugustVonKotzebueS135.jpgLicense: Public Domain Contributors: J. C. Heinsius. Original

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