THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
onomy compared with Genesis and Exodus; while there he was greatly influenced by Kuenen, whose successor he later became. He assumed the pastorate at Rockanye 1874, at Heenobet 1874, at Barendrecht 1877, at Neede 1880, and at Deventer 1883; in 1892 he succeeded Kuenen as professor at Leyden. In his pastorate he made himself greatly beloved by his interest in the poor and the sick, while at the same time he was an excellent preacher, applying to his work the results of a wide reading. In his chair as a university teacher he was happy and successful, delivering at his inauguration an address on Het godsdienstig Karakter van Israels Historiografte (Leyden, 1892). Notwithstanding the engrossing character of his duties in preparing his lectures, he collaborated in the editing of the Theologische Tijdschrift, contributing much of his own work to its columns; he was the author also of Het Herstel van Israel in het perzische Tijdvak (Leyden, 1893) ; the views advanced in this book are embodied in the volume on Ezra-Nehemiah in the Century Bible (London 1909). The views for which he was most noted are that the " return " which appears in the account of Ezra and Nehemiah never really took place; that the temple was built not by returning exiles but by the Jews who were on the spot and had never gone into exile; and that the reform of Ezra followed and not preceded that of Nehemiah — in the last point following Van Hoonacker of Lnuvain and other scholars. These positions have been accepted in the main by a considerable number of Old-Testament scholars, though not by the majority. T. Witton Davies.
Bibliography: H. Oor, Levensbericht van Willem Hendrik Kosters, Leyden, 1898.
KOTTWITZ, ket'wits, HANS ERNST, BARON VON : Philanthropist; b. in Tschepplau, near Glogau (55 m. n.w. of Breslau), Silesia, Sept. 2 (orl), 1757; d. at Berlin May 13, 1843. The facts of his life have to be gathered from a few letters and the biographies of others, and events before he settled at Berlin in 1807 and became a public personality are veiled in obscurity. He received his education in an institution of Breslau. Later he came to the court of Frederick II. as page. About this time he had a quarrel with his parents and decided to emigrate, but an order of the sovereign, issued at the instigation of his father, compelled him to stay. After the death of his father in 1777, Hans Ernst, as his only surviving son, was probably charged with the administration of his estate. Of the following thirty years nothing is known except his marriage, his entrance into the order of the freemasons, his conversion, the beginnings of his philanthropic work in Silesia, various travels, and perhaps also his divorce. «}The unfortunate outcome of his mar-', riage was probably occasioned by his liberality in the cause of philanthropy, which sometimes seems to have bordered on imprudence, especially from the practical standpoint of his wife. It is not known in what relation Kottwitz stood to the Unity of Brethren (Moravians), but it is certain that he attained peace of soul and his religious convictions by contact with this sect; Bishop Spangenberg especially influenced him deeply, according to his own statement. His relations with the freema-
sons date probably from the time before his conversion, and it was undoubtedly their philanthropic efforts that attracted him.
Kottwitz took Exodus vi. 9 as the basis of his life-work, being of the opinion that misery of the body depresses the human spirit, and that the tears of earthly pain must be dried before the realization of spiritual needs can come to the poor and unhappy. For this purpose he undertook extensive travels over several states of Germany such as Silesia, the mark of Brandenburg, Sleswick Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania, and founded factories in Silesia after his own ideals and an institution for voluntary occupation in opposition to the compulsory work of the houses of correction at Berlin. Both kinds of institutions were based on the principle of self-help and self-respect. Kottwitz intended to discourage begging and at the same time remove poverty by providing remunerative labor. The poor working men in Silesia were mostly weavers. He distributed material among them, paid for their work generously and sold their productions, often with great sacrifices of his own fortune. In 1807 he removed to Berlin, just at a time when there was great misery among the working classes on account of the war with Napoleon. Here he founded institutions similar to those in Silesia and in addition provided free lodgings for whole families of working men. When a family by diligence and thrift had lifted itself out of its miserable conditions, it made way for another family. The children of these working men were provided with their own teachers, and every evening there was held a common service, consisting of song, reading of Scripture, and extempore prayer, which was conducted by Kottwitz himself or by one of his teachers. The maintenance of these institutions must have devoured immense sums of his private fortune, and it was only at a later time that the king contributed an annual sum of 3,000 thalers for the care of 120 old and invalid persons. The whole colony numbered 600. In 1823 the financial circumstances of Kottwitz compelled him to hand his foundations over to the city, but he became a member in the directorate and was allowed to keep his residence among his people. While his work on the whole failed, his intercourse with his friends and his care for individual souls remained of lasting value. In Berlin he became the acknowledged leader of the Pietists, and his colony their principal place of meeting. The circle of his friends included old and young, lawyers, army officers, and theologians, among them Janicke, Neander, Strauss, Hengstenberg, Tholuck, Stier, Rothe, Wichern, and others. (F. Bosse.)
Bibliography: T. Ritter, Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des . . Barons von Kottwitz, Berlin, 1857; J. L. Jacobi. Erinnerungen an den Baron E. von Kothritz, Halle, 1SS2; W. Baur, in Neue Christoterpe, 1883; ADB, xvi. 765-772.
KRABBE, krab'be, OTTO KARSTEN: German Lutheran; b. at Hamburg Dec. 27, 1805; d. at Rostock Nov. 14, 1873. He studied theology at Bonn, Berlin, and Gottingen, attending also lectures on philology, philosophy, and history. At Bonn he was influenced by Nitzsch, Sack, and Lticke; at Berlin he was in personal intercourse