GOLTZ, BOGUMIL (1801-1870), German humorist and satirist, was born at Warsaw on the 20th of March 1801. After attending the classical schools of Marienwerder and Königsberg, he learnt farming on an estate near Thorn, and in 1821 entered the university of Breslau as a student of philosophy. But he soon abandoned an academical career, and, after returning for a while to country life, retired to the small town of Gollub, where he devoted himself to literary studies. In 1847 he settled at Thorn, “the home of Copernicus,” where he died on the 12th of November 1870. Goltz is best known to literary fame by his Buch der Kindheit (Frankfort, 1847; 4th ed., Berlin, 1877), in which, after the style of Jean Paul, and Adalbert Stifter, but with a more modern realism, he gives a charming and idyllic description of the impressions of his own childhood. Among his other works must be noted Ein Jugendleben (1852); Der Mensch und die Leute (1858); Zur Charakteristik und Naturgeschichte der Frauen (1859); Zur Geschichte und Charakteristik des deutschen Genius (1864), and Die Weltklugheit und die Lebensweisheit (1869).
Goltz’s works have not been collected, but a selection will be found in Reclam’s Universalbibliothek (ed. by P. Stein, 1901 and 1906). See O. Roquette, Siebzig Jahre, i. (1894).
GOLTZ, COLMAR, Freiherr Von Der (1843- ), Prussian soldier and military writer, was born at Bielkenfeld, East Prussia, on the 12th of August 1843, and entered the Prussian infantry in 1861. In 1864 he entered the Berlin Military Academy, but was temporarily withdrawn in 1866 to serve in the Austrian war, in which he was wounded at Trautenau. In 1867 he joined the topographical section of the general staff, and at the beginning of the Franco-German War of 1870-71 was attached to the staff of Prince Frederick Charles. He took part in the battles of Vionville and Gravelotte and in the siege of Metz. After its fall he served under the Red Prince in the campaign of the Loire, including the battles of Orleans and Le Mans. He was appointed in 1871 professor at the military school at Potsdam, and the same year was promoted captain and placed in the historical section of the general staff. It was then he wrote Die Operationen der II. Armee bis zur Capitulation von Metz and Die Sieben Tage von Le Mans, both published in 1873. In 1874 he was appointed to the staff of the 6th division, and while so employed wrote Die Operationen der II. Armee an der Loire and Léon Gambetta und seine Armeen, published in 1875 and 1877 respectively. The latter was translated into French the same year, and both are impartially written. The views expressed in the latter work led to his being sent back to regimental duty for a time, but it was not long before he returned to the military history section. In 1878 von der Goltz was appointed lecturer in military history at the military academy at Berlin, where he remained for five years and attained the rank of major. He published, in 1883, Rossbach und Jena (new and revised edition, Von Rossbach bis Jena und Auerstädt, 1906), Das Volk in Waffen (English translation The Nation in Arms), both of which quickly became military classics, and during his residence in Berlin contributed many articles to the military journals. In June 1883 his services were lent to Turkey to reorganize the military establishments of the country. He spent twelve years in this work, the result of which appeared in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and he was made a pasha and in 1895 a mushir or field-marshal. On his return to Germany in 1896 he became a lieutenant-general and commander of the 5th division, and in 1898, head of the Engineer and Pioneer Corps and inspector-general of fortifications. In 1900 he was made general of infantry and in 1902 commander of the I. army corps. In 1907 he was made inspector-general of the newly created sixth army inspection established at Berlin, and in 1908 was given the rank of colonel-general (Generaloberst).
In addition to the works already named and frequent contributions to military periodical literature, he wrote Kriegführung (1895, later edition Krieg- und Heerführung, 1901; Eng. trans. The Conduct of War); Der thessalische Krieg (Berlin, 1898); Ein Ausflug nach Macedonien (1894); Anatolische Ausflüge (1896); a map and description of the environs of Constantinople; Von Jena bis Pr. Eylau (1907), a most important historical work, carrying on the story of Rossbach und Jena to the peace of Tilsit, &c.
GOLTZIUS, HENDRIK (1558-1617), Dutch painter and engraver, was born in 1558 at Mülebrecht, in the duchy of Jülich. After studying painting on glass for some years under his father, he was taught the use of the burin by Dirk Volkertsz Coornhert, a Dutch engraver of mediocre attainment, whom he soon surpassed, but who retained his services for his own advantage. He was also employed by Philip Galle to engrave a set of prints of the history of Lucretia. At the age of twenty-one he married a widow somewhat advanced in years, whose money enabled him to establish at Haarlem an independent business; but his unpleasant relations with her so affected his health that he found it advisable in 1590 to make a tour through Germany to Italy, where he acquired an intense admiration for the works of Michelangelo, which led him to surpass that master in the grotesqueness and extravagance of his designs. He returned to Haarlem considerably improved in health, and laboured there at his art till his death, on the 1st of January 1617. Goltzius ought not to be judged chiefly by the works he valued most, his eccentric imitations of Michelangelo. His portraits, though mostly miniatures, are master-pieces of their kind, both on account of their exquisite finish, and as fine studies of individual character. Of his larger heads, the life-size portrait of himself is probably the most striking example. His “master-pieces,” so called from their being attempts to imitate the style of the old masters, have perhaps been overpraised. In his command of the burin Goltzius is not surpassed even by Dürer; but his technical skill is often unequally aided by higher artistic qualities. Even, however, his eccentricities and extravagances are greatly counterbalanced by the beauty and freedom of his execution. He began painting at the age of forty-two, but none of his works in this branch of art—some of which are in the imperial collection at Vienna—display any special excellences. He also executed a few pieces in chiaroscuro.
His prints amount to more than 300 plates, and are fully described in Bartsch’s Peintre-graveur, and Weigel’s supplement to the same work.