August von Kotzebue
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
dramatist.
One of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival
Wartburg festival
The first Wartburg festival on 18 October 1817 was an important event in German history that took place at the Wartburg Castle near Eisenach....
in 1817. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand
Karl Ludwig Sand
Karl Ludwig Sand was a German university student and member of a liberal Burschenschaft . He was executed in 1820 for the murder of the conservative dramatist August von Kotzebue the previous year in Mannheim...
, a militant member of the Burschenschaft
Burschenschaft
German Burschenschaften are a special type of Studentenverbindungen . Burschenschaften were founded in the 19th century as associations of university students inspired by liberal and nationalistic ideas.-History:-Beginnings 1815–c...
en. The murder of Kotzebue gave Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
the pretext to issue the Carlsbad Decrees
Carlsbad Decrees
The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Bohemia...
of 1819, which dissolved the Burschenschaften, cracked down against the liberal press, and seriously restricted academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
in the states of the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
.
Life
Kotzebue was born in WeimarWeimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
and attended primary as well as secondary school there. He went to the University of Jena at age sixteen and continued his studies for a year at the University of Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
. In 1780 he graduated in legal sciences and became a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
.
Through the influence of Graf Gortz, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n ambassador at the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n court, he became secretary of the Governor General of St Petersburg.
In 1783 he received the appointment of assessor to the high court of appeals in Reval
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, where he married the daughter of a Russian lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
. He was ennobled in 1785, and became president of the magistracy of the province of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
.
In Reval he acquired considerable reputation by his novels, Die Leiden der Ortenbergischen Familie ("The Sorrows of the Ortenberg Family") (1785) and Geschichte meines Vaters (History of my Father) (1788), and still more by the plays Adelheid von Wulfingen ("Adelheid of Wulfingen") (1789), Menschenhass und Reue (Misanthropy and Regrets) (1790) and Die Indianer in England ("The Indians in England" (1790).
The good impression produced by these works was, however, almost effaced 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 Knigge on the title page.
Written in response to a polemical feud between J.G. Zimmermann
Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann
Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann was a Swiss philosophical writer, naturalist, and physician.-Life and works:...
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 matter began to be investigated by the police, so that as well as alienating both Zimmermann and Knigge (his former allies), Kotzebue gained 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
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
; he then settled in 1795 on an estate which he had acquired near Reval and devoted himself to writing.
Within a few years, Kotzebue published six volumes of miscellaneous sketches and stories (Die jüngsten Kinder meiner Laune, 1793–1796) and more than twenty plays, the majority of which were translated into several European languages.
In 1798 he accepted the office of dramatist to the court theatre in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, but owing to differences with the actors he was soon obliged to resign.
He then returned to his native town, but as he was not on good terms with the powerful Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, and had openly attacked the romantic style
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
for which Goethe was known, his position in Weimar was not comfortable.
He thought of returning to St Petersburg, but on his journey there he was, for some unknown reason, arrested at the frontier and transported to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
Fortunately he had written a comedy which flattered the vanity of Emperor Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
; he was quickly brought back, presented with an estate from the crown lands of Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, and made director of the German theatre in St Petersburg.
Kotzebue returned to Germany when Tsar Paul died, and again settled in Weimar; he then turned to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where, in association with Garlieb Merkel
Garlieb Merkel
Garlieb Helwig Merkel was a Baltic German writer and activist and an early Estophile and Lettophile....
(1769–1850), he edited Der Freimutige (Free Courage) from 1803 to 1807 and began his Almanach dramatischer Spiele ("Almanac of the Dramatic Arts") in 1803, which was published posthumously in 1820.
Towards the end of 1806, he was once more in Russia, and in the security of his estate in Estonia wrote many satirical articles against Napoleon Bonaparte in his journals Die Biene ("The Bee" or "The Cootie") and Die Grille ("The Cricket").
As councillor of state, he was attached in 1816 to the department for foreign affairs in St Petersburg, and in 1817 went to Germany, from where he reported to Russia on German affairs.
Some suspected him of being a spy, and this view was long maintained, but in modern times this has been shown to have been unfounded: he reported only on matters that were already in the public domain. Nevertheless it is fair to say he was Russia's advocate in Germany.
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
Karl Ludwig Sand
Karl Ludwig Sand was a German university student and member of a liberal Burschenschaft . He was executed in 1820 for the murder of the conservative dramatist August von Kotzebue the previous year in Mannheim...
, a theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
student, plotted to kill him, carrying out the act soon after Kotzebue had moved with his family to Mannheim.
Sand attacked Kotzebue at his house on 18 March 1819. According to Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, Sand became overwrought when one of Kotzebue's children appeared and started to cry, and then 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. Nevertheless, he was convicted of Kotzebue's murder and was executed later that year.
The assassination of Kotzebue provided Prince Metternich with arguments to convince the Confederation to enact greater restrictions on universities and the press, called the Carlsbad Decrees
Carlsbad Decrees
The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Bohemia...
.
Work
Though he was unfavourably reviewed by critics - many of whom saw his work as immoral - he was one of the most popular writers of his time. In an essay called 'Why Do I Have So Many Enemies?', Kotzebue cited jealousy of his fame as a factor. He was politically conservative and cosmopolitan in his outlook, and spoke out against the antisemitism of student nationalists.He was approached in 1812 by Beethoven, who suggested 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
Book burning
Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
by nationalist students at the 1817 Wartburg
Wartburg
The Wartburg is a castle overlooking the town of Eisenach, Germany.Wartburg may also refer to:* Wartburgkreis, a district in Germany named after the Wartburg* Wartburg , former East German brand of automobiles, manufactured in Eisenach...
Festival (which Sand attended).
Of continuing interest are his autobiographical writings, Meine Flucht nach Paris im Winter 1790 (1791), Über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien (1799), Das merkwürdigste Jahr meines Lebens (1801), Erinnerungen aus Paris (1804), and Erinnerungen von meiner Reise aus Liefland nach Rom und Neapel (1805).
As a dramatist he was extraordinarily prolific, his plays numbering over 200; his popularity, not merely on the German, but on the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an stage, was unprecedented.
His success, however, was seen as due less to any conspicuous literary or poetic ability than to an extraordinary facility in the invention of effective situations. He possessed, as few German playwrights before or since, the unerring instinct for the theatre; and his influence on the technique of the modern drama from Scribe to Sardou
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
and from Bauernfeld
Eduard von Bauernfeld
Eduard von Bauernfeld , Austrian dramatist, was born at Vienna.Having studied jurisprudence at the university of Vienna, he entered the government service in a legal capacity, and after holding various minor offices was transferred in 1843 to a responsible post on the Lottery Commission...
to Sudermann
Hermann Sudermann
Hermann Sudermann was a German dramatist and novelist.- Early career :He was born at Matzicken, a village just to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia , close to the Russian frontier...
is unmistakable.
Kotzebue is to be seen to best advantage in his comedies, such as Der Wildfang, Die beiden Klingsberg and Die deutschen Kleinstädter, which contain admirable genre pictures of German life.
These plays held the stage in Germany long after the once famous Menschenhass und Reue (which translates as Misanthropy and Repentance, but was known in England as The Stranger), Graf Benjowsky, or ambitious exotic tragedies like Die Sonnenjungfrau and Die Spanier in Peru
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. This historic process of military conquest was made by Spanish conquistadores and their native allies....
(which Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
adapted as Pizarro) were forgotten.
Theatre historians usually consider the runaway success of The Stranger, the English version of Menschenhass 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
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, 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., 1798–1820). His Sämtliche dramatische Werke appeared in 44 vols., in 1827-1829, and again, under the title Theater, in 40 vols., in 1840-1841. A selection of his plays in 10 vols. appeared in Leipzig in 1867-1868. See Heinrich Doring
Heinrich Döring
Heinrich Doring, born Michael Johann Heinrich Döring was a German writer, theologian and mineralogist....
, 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).
Legacy
A street in Põhja-TallinnPõhja-Tallinn
Põhja-Tallinn is one of the 8 administrative districts of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 55 656 .-Subdistricts:...
administrative district of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
is named after him.
Kotzebue was the father of 18 children, among them Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue was a Baltic German navigator in Russian service....
, Moritz von Kotzebue, Paul Demetrius Kotzebue
Paul Demetrius Kotzebue
Count Paul Demetrius von Kotzebue was a Baltic-German Russian officer, Governor-general of Warsaw , son of German dramatist August von Kotzebue....
and Alexander Kotzebue
Alexander Kotzebue
Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Franz von Kotzebue was a German-Russian Romantic painter of historical scenes and battle scenes....
.