Rudolf von Gottschall (September 30, 1823 - March 21, 1909), was a German poet and dramatist.

He was born at Breslau, the son of a Prussian artillery officer. He was educated at the gymnasia in Mainz and Coburg, and subsequently at Rastenburg in East Prussia. In 1841 he entered the University of Königsberg as a law student, but was expelled for his outspoken liberal opinions. The academic authorities at Breslau and Leipzig were equally intolerant towards him, and it was only in Berlin that he found himself free to pursue his studies. During this period he issued Lieder der Gegenwart (1842) and Zensurflüchtlinge (1843)--the poetical fruits of his political enthusiasm. He completed his studies in Berlin, and took the degree of doctor juris in Königsberg.

His political views continued to stand in the way of his career, and Gottschall gave up the law to devote himself entirely to literature. He met with immediate success, and beginning as a dramaturge in Königsberg with Der Blinde von Alcala (1846) and Lord Byron in Italien (1847), he went on to Hamburg where he occupied a similar position. In 1852 he married Marie, baroness von Seherr-Thoss, and for the next few years lived in Silesia. In 1862 he took over the editorship of a newspaper, but in 1864 moved to Leipzig. Gottschall was raised, in 1877, by the king of Prussia to the hereditary nobility with the prefix "von," having been previously made a Geheimer Hofrat by the grand duke of Weimar. Down to 1887 Gottschall edited the Brockhaussche Blätter für litterarische Unterhaltung and the monthly periodical Unsere Zeit. He died at Leipzig.

Gottschall’s prolific literary productions cover the fields of poetry, novel-writing and literary criticism. Among his volumes of lyric poetry are Sebastopol (1856), Janus (1873), Bunte Bluten (1891). Among his epics, Carlo Zeno (1854), Maja (1864), dealing with an episode in the Indian Mutiny, and Merlins Wanderungen (1887). The comedy Pitt und Fox (1854), first produced on the stage in Breslau, was never surpassed by the other lighter pieces of the author, among which may be mentioned Die Welt des Schwindels and Der Spion von Rheinsberg. The tragedies, Mazeppa, Catharine Howard, Amy Robsart and Der Gotze von Venedig, were very successful; and the historical novels, Im Banne des schwarzen Adlers (1875; 4th ed., 1884), Die Erbschaft des Blutes (1881), Die Tochter Rübezahls (1889), and Verkümmerte Existenzen (1892), enjoyed a high degree of popularity. As a critic and historian of literature Gottschall has also done excellent work. His Die deutsche Nationalliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts (1855; 7th ed., 1901-1902), and Poetik (1858; 6th ed., 5903) command the respect of all students of literature.

Gottschall’s collected Dramatische Werke appeared in 12 vols. in 1880 (2nd ed., 1884); he also later published many volumes of collected essays and criticisms. See his autobiography, Aus meiner Jugend (1898).

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.