Stefan von Kotze

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Stefan von Kotze (born August 23, 1869 in Klein Oschersleben ; † April 11, 1909 there ) was a German colonial writer . He was especially popular because of his unusual writing style and humor.

Life

Little is known about Stefan von Kotze's life. He was the outsider in his family and caused problems early on at his private school, where he was about to be expelled. Only through an intervention by the then Chancellor and friend of the family, Prince Otto von Bismarck , he remained a student there. While the military held a very high priority in his family and almost all male family members had career as an officer, Stefan von Kotze broke off his military career, probably because of problems of authority, and began a life as a travel writer. What is certain is that he spent several years in the various German colonies ( Papua , Tsingtau ) and the African colonies. He recorded his experiences in his books. His works are quite humorous for the time, but also contain racist remarks - for example, he described Asians as a " yellow danger ".

According to the family's official correspondence, Von Kotze died of a heart attack. In the church book of the Evangelical Church in Klein Oschersleben, however, it is noted that he committed suicide in the park area of ​​the family castle there. Due to severe depression, he ended his life with a large-caliber rifle with which he shot himself in the head. Since suicide at the time would have thrown a very bad image of the family and affected his mother very much, the von Kotze family decided to officially only speak of a heart attack. He is buried in the local cemetery, a few hundred meters from the site of his suicide.

Works (selection)

  • The yellow danger. 1900, 1904
  • An African stroll along the coast. Berlin 1906
  • From a new literature. Australian stories and chats. Berlin 1909.
  • Stories from Australia. Hamburg-Großborstel 1909.
  • South Seas memories, from Papua's culture mornings. Berlin 1921.
  • Adventure in Australia's bush and steppe. Karlsruhe / Leipzig 1921. ( Illustrated Universe Library , 21.)
  • Australian sketches. Berlin 1921.
  • The antipodes. Mittenwalde 2016, ISBN 978-3-94687804-9 . (New edition of the first edition from 1906.)
  • In the European Secret Annex . Norderstedt 2020, ISBN 978-3-7504-3500-1 . (New edition of the first edition from 1908.)

literature

  • Joachim Schulz: History of Australian Literature. Hueber, Munich 1960, p. 156.

Web links

Wikisource: Stefan von Kotze  - sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Kotze, Stefan von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Colonial writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Little Oschersleben
DATE OF DEATH April 11, 1909
Place of death Little Oschersleben