GOTTSCHALL

gottschall, rudolf von (1823-1909), german man of letters, was born at breslau on the 30th of september 1823, the son of a prussian artillery officer. he received his early education at the gymnasia in mainz and coburg, and subsequently at rastenburg in east prussia. in 1841 he entered the university of konigsberg as a student of law, but, in consequence of his pronounced liberal opinions, was expelled. the academic authorities at breslau and leipzig were not more tolerant towards the young fire-eater, and it was only in berlin that he eventually found himself free to prosecute his studies. during this period of unrest he issued _lieder der gegenwart_ (1842) and _zensurfluchtlinge_ (1843)--the poetical fruits of his political enthusiasm. he completed his studies in berlin, took the degree of _doctor juris_ in konigsberg, and endeavoured to obtain there the _venia legendi_. his political views again stood in the way, and forsaking the legal career, gottschall now devoted himself entirely to literature. he met with immediate success, and beginning as dramaturge in konigsberg with _der blinde von alcala_ (1846) and _lord byron in italien_ (1847) proceeded 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 posen newspaper, but in 1864 removed 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 _brockhaus'sche blatter fur litterarische unterhaltung_ and the monthly periodical _unsere zeit_. he died at leipzig on the 21st of march 1909. 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 rubezahls_ (1889), and _verkummerte 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 19. jahrhunderts_ (1855; 7th ed., 1901-1902), and _poetik_ (1858; 6th ed., 1903) command the respect of all students of literature. gottschall's collected _dramatische werke_ appeared in 12 vols. in 1880 (2nd ed., 1884); he has also, in recent years, published many volumes of collected essays and criticisms. see his autobiography, _aus meiner jugend_ (1898).