Gotthilf August

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

von Maltitz (July 9, 1794 – June 7, 1837) was a German writer. Von Maltitz was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

(then in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

). He studied

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, 9 miles southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta ...

, and became a forest overseer (''Oberförsterstelle'') in Prussia in 1821. However he left the position the next year because a satirical work of his offended his superiors. He moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he wrote satires and plays and became well known in high-society circles. His humorous works were probably most popular, including ''Ränzel und Wanderstab'' (1821) and ''Gelasius'' (1826). He also wrote some well-received dramas, including ''Schwur und Rache'' (1826) and ''Hans Kohlhaas'' (1828). Another 1828 play, however, ''Der alte Student'', had a Polish protagonist and was judged to contain political agitation for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

by the Prussian authorities, leading to his banishment from

. In 1828, he moved to the state of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, where he became editor of the journal ''Norddeutscher Courrier''. In 1829, he wrote ''Das Pasquill'', a dramatization of transparent versus concealed political culture, which "became quite popular in German theatres of the time." He went to Paris in 1830 following the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

, but was soon disappointed and returned to the German states, where he lived in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Saxony until his death there in 1837. He published a collection of political poems as ''Pfefferkörner'' in four booklets from 1831 to 1834, and a collection of his satirical writings was published posthumously as ''Humoristische Raupen'' in 1839.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maltitz, Gotthilf August 1794 births 1837 deaths Writers from Königsberg Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry alumni German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German poets 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers