The New International Encyclopædia/Rötscher, Heinrich Theodor

RÖTSCHER, rẽt'shẽr, (1803-71). A German dramatic critic. He was born in Mittenwalde, studied at Berlin and Leipzig, and from 1828 to 1845 was professor in the Gymnasium of Bromberg. Then he became dramatic critic to the Spenersche Zeitung of Berlin. His principal work is the Kunst der dramatischen Darstellung (1841-40; 2d ed. 1864). Among his works may be mentioned Aristophanes und sein Zeitalter (1827) and Abhandlungen zur Philosophie der Kunst (1837-47), both strongly tinged with Hegelianism; Shakespeare in seinen höchsten Charaktergebilden (1864); Dramuturgische und ästhetische Abhandlungen (1864-67); and Seydelmanns Leben und Wirken (1845).