Gustav Heinrich Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz (March 20, 1821 - September 5, 1890), German author, was born at Retzien near Perleberg in West Prignitz.

He studied law at Berlin and Heidelberg, and was attached to the provincial government at Magdeburg from 1846-1848. In 1853 he married Grafin Elisabeth von Königsmark, and lived on his estate until 1863, when he became director of the Court theatre at Schwerin.

This post he left in 1867, was for a short time chamberlain to the crown prince of Prussia, afterwards the emperor Frederick, and from 1873 to 1889 successfully directed the Court theatre at Karlsruhe. He died at Retzien on the 5th of September 1890.

Putlitz made his debut as a writer with a volume of romantic stories, Was sich der Wald erzahlt (1850), which attained great popularity (fifty editions) and found many imitators; but he was most successful in his comedies, notably Badekuren (1859); Das Herz vergessen (1853); and Spielt nicht mit dem Feuer! (1887), while of his narratives Die Alpenbraut (1870) and Walpurgis (1870) are distinguished by refined terseness of style and delicacy of portraiture.

A selection of his works, Ausgewählte Werke, was published in six volumes in Berlin (1872-1877), and a supplementary volume in 1888; his comedies, Lustspiele, appeared in two series of four volumes each (1851-1860 and 1869-1872). See E. zu Putlitz, Gustav zu Putlitz, Ein Lebensbild aus Briefen (3 vols., 1894-1895).

Reference

• This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.