Johann Christoph Gottsched
Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-1766) was a significant figure in the German Enlightenment, known for his contributions to literature, philosophy, and theater. Born the eldest son of a Protestant pastor, he pursued his studies at the University of Königsberg, where he was influenced by notable philosophers like Christian Wolff and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. In 1724, Gottsched moved to Leipzig, where he became a prominent academic and literary figure, eventually becoming a professor at the University of Leipzig.
He played a pivotal role in reforming German literature, aiming to align it with the principles of French classicism. His efforts included founding the German Society in Leipzig and publishing influential journals that aimed to foster moral values and promote literary standards. Gottsched was also involved in the theater, collaborating with notable figures like Friederike Caroline Neuber, and his works included the tragedy "Der sterbende Cato." Despite facing criticism and a decline in reputation later in his career due to disputes with other scholars, his contributions to the literary landscape were eventually recognized in the late nineteenth century. Gottsched's legacy reflects the complexities and challenges of literary reform during his time.
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Subject Terms
Johann Christoph Gottsched
Author
- Born: February 2, 1700
- Birthplace: Judittenkirchen, near Königsberg, Prussia (now in Germany)
- Died: December 12, 1766
- Place of death: Leipzig, Saxony (now in Germany)
Biography
Johann Christoph Gottsched was the oldest of four sons born to the Protestant pastor Christoph Gottsched (1668-1737) and his wife Regina Gottsched, née Biemann (baptized 1763). His brother Johann Friedrich (1704-1726) was a physician, his brother Johann Heinrich was a tax advisor in Kassel, and his brother Reinhold was a lawyer in Königsberg. After being taught at home by his father, Gottsched enrolled at the University of Königsberg, Prussia, in 1714. He was impressed by the philosophical writings of Christian Wolff and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and earned his, master of philosophy degree in 1719.
In 1724, Gottsched and his brother Johann Friedrich fled Prussia to avoid the military draft. They settled in Leipzig, Saxony, and had a dissertation accepted by the university there. The historian Johann Burkhard Mencke hired Gottsched as a tutor for his son and as a librarian, and introduced him to a society for poetics that elected Gottsched its head in 1927. He renamed it the German Society in Leipzig, and used it to launch his attempts at reforming German language and literature according to the model of French classicism.
In 1725, Gottsched began lecturing in philosophy and rhetoric at the University of Leipzig, and also started a weekly journal, Die vernünftigen Tadlerinnen (the ladies’ reasonable reproaches), designed to impart moral values to its readers. After it ceased publication in 1726, Gottsched started a second such journal in 1727, Der Biedermann (the man of integrity), writing almost all the stories for it too until it folded in 1729. These journals were formative for the literature of the Early Enlightenment.
From 1727 to 1741, Gottsched exerted his influence on the theater through his friendship with theater manager Johann Neuber and his wife, Friederike Caroline Neuber. Her troupe performed the première of Gottsched’s tragedy, Der sterbende Cato (the dying Cato) in 1731, and in October of 1737 they banished the character of the harlequin from the stage, since the role had become obscene.
On April 19, 1735, Gottsched married the writer Luise Adelgunde Victorie Kulmus (1713-1762) in Danzig. She supported his literary endeavors and theater reforms by translating French comedies by Molière and Destouches for the German stage and by writing her own social comedies. A high point of their marriage was their private audience in 1749 with the archduchess of Austria, Maria Theresia. They had no children.
After Gottsched’s brother Reinhold’s death in 1759, his daughters Viktoria and Wilhelmine came to live with Johann Christoph and his wife Luise, neither of whom was in good health. Luise died in 1762. On August 1, 1765, Gottsched married the nineteen-year-old Ernestine Susanne Katharina Neuene� in Camburg on the Saale. He died the following year.
Gottsched had a successful academic career at the University of Leipzig. He was promoted to associate professor of poetics and rhetoric in 1730 and to professor of logic and metaphysics in 1734. He was elected rector of the university five times.
His reputation waned after 1740, when he became involved in a literary feud with the Swiss scholars Johann Jacob Bodmer and Johann Jakob Breitinger. Gottsched criticized the English writers John Milton and William Shakespeare, and was in turn severely criticized by the younger German writer Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) and dismissed as an unimaginative pedant. Gottsched’s considerable efforts to improve German literature were only recognized again in the late nineteenth century.