August von Kotzebue

August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (May 3, 1761 in Weimar - March 23, 1819 in Mannheim) was a German dramatist. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The city hall Goethe and Schiller in front of the Deutsche Nationaltheater Weimar is a city in Germany. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1819 common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Mannheim is a city in Germany. ... A dramatist is an author of dramatic compositions, usually plays. ...

One of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival in 1817. August von Kotzebue was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a militant member of the Burschenschaften. The murder of Kotzebue gave Metternich the pretext to issue the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, which dissolved the Burschenschaften, cracked down against the liberal press, and seriously restricted academic freedom in the states of the German Confederation. Movement of the students on the Wartburg in 1817 The first Wartburg festival (German: Wartburgfest) on October 18, 1817 was an important event in German history that took place at the Wartburg castle at Eisenach. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Karl Ludwig Sand (d. ... German Burschenschaften are a special type of Studentenverbindungen (student fraternities); they were founded in the 19th century as associations of university students inspired by liberal and nationalistic ideas. ... Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein (May 15, 1773 – June 11, 1859) was an Austrian politician, statesman and one of the most important diplomats of his era. ... The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of social restrictions introduced in Germany by Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich of Austria on September, 20 1819. ... Academic freedom is the freedom of teachers, students, and academic institutions to pursue knowledge wherever it may lead, without undue or unreasonable interference. ... The German Confederation (German: Deutscher Bund) was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been abolished in 1806. ...

Biography

After attending school there, he went in his sixteenth year to the University of Jena, and afterwards studied for a year in Duisburg. In 1780 he completed his legal course and became an advocate. Through the influence of Graf Gortz, Prussian ambassador at the Russian court, he became secretary of the governor-general of St Petersburg, In 1783 he received the appointment of assessor to the high court of appeal in Reval, where he married the daughter of a Russian lieutenant-general. He was ennobled in 1785, and became president of the magistracy of the province of Estonia. In Reval he acquired considerable reputation by his novels, Die Leiden der Ortenbergischen Familie (1785) and Geschichte meines Vaters (1788), and still more by the plays Adelheid von Wulfingen (1789), Menschenhass und Reue (1790) and Die Indianer in England (1790). The good impression produced by these works was, however, almost effaced by a cynical dramatic satire, Doktor Bahrdt mit der eisernen Stirn, which appeared in 1790 with the name of Knigge on the title page. After the death of his first wife, Kotzebue retired from the Russian service, and lived for a time in Paris and Mainz; he then settled in 1795 on an estate which he had acquired near Reval and devoted himself to writing. Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (FSU) is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was named for the German writer Friedrich Schiller. ... Duisburg is a German city and port in the western part of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Political structure Duchy, Kingdom, Republic Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I  - 1688–1701 Frederick III King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I  - 1888–1918 William II Prime Minister1,2... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... County Harju County Mayor Jüri Ratas Area 159. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Within a few years he 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, but owing to differences with the actors he was soon obliged to resign. He now returned to his native town, but as he was not on good terms with Goethe, and had openly attacked Romanticism, 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. Fortunately he had written a comedy which flattered the vanity of the emperor Paul of Russia; he was quickly brought back, presented with an estate from the crown lands of Livonia, and made director of the German theatre in St Petersburg. Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...  , IPA: , (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, theorist, humanist, scientist, and painter. ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... It has been suggested that Western Siberia be merged into this article or section. ... Paul I of Russia Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, Павел I Петрович) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801). ... Baltic Tribes, ca 1200 CE This article is about the region in Europe. ...

He returned to Germany when the emperor Paul died, and again settled in Weimar; he found it as impossible as ever to gain a footing in literary society, and turned to Berlin, where in association with Garlieb Merkel (1769-1850) he edited Der Freimutige (1803-1807) and began his Almanach dramatischer Spiele (1803-1820). 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 and Die Grille. As councillor of state he was attached in 1816 to the department for foreign affairs in St Petersburg, and in 1817 went to Germany as a kind of spy in the service of Russia, with a salary of 15,000 roubles. In a weekly journal (Literarisches Wochenblatt) which he published in Weimar he scoffed at the pretensions of those Germans who demanded free institutions, and became an object of such general dislike that he was obliged to move to Mannheim. He was especially detested by the young enthusiasts for liberty, and one of them, Karl Ludwig Sand, a theology student, stabbed him, in Mannheim. Sand was executed, and the government made his crime an excuse for placing the universities under strict supervision. Location of Berlin within Germany / EU Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE3 City subdivisions 12 boroughs Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit (SPD) Governing parties SPD / Left. ... Garlieb Helwig Merkel (October 31, 1769 - May 9, 1850) was a German Latvian writer and activist. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Karl Ludwig Sand (d. ... At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Theology at: The School of Theology Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Mannheim is a city in Germany. ...

Besides his plays, Kotzebue wrote several historical works, which, however, are too one-sided and prejudiced to have much value. Of more 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 European stage, was unprecedented. His success, however, was 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 and from Bauernfeld to Sudermann 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 (known in England as The Stranger), Graf Benjowsky, or ambitious exotic tragedies like Die Sonnenjungfrau and Die Spanier in Peru (which Sheridan adapted as Pizarro) were forgotten. World map showing the location of Europe. ... Augustin Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (December 24, 1791 - February 20, 1861), was a French dramatist and librettist. ... Victorien Sardou (September 5, 1831 - November 8, 1908) was a French dramatist. ... Eduard von Bauernfeld (January 13, 1802 - August 9, 1890), Austrian dramatist, was born at Vienna. ... Hermann Sudermann (September 30, 1857- November 21, 1928), German dramatist and novelist, was born at Matziken in East Prussia, close to the Russian frontier, of a Mennonite family long settled near Elbing. ... Sheridan is the name of several places in the United States of America: Sheridan, Indiana Sheridan, Michigan Sheridan, New York Sheridan, Oregon Sheridan, Wyoming Sheridan County, Kansas Sheridan is also the name of a battle tank developed by the United States army, named after General Philip H. Sheridan. ...

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, 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).

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Works by August von Kotzebue at Project Gutenberg