Otto Roquette (April 19, 1824 – March 18, 1896) was a German author.
Roquette was born inKrotoschin,PrussianProvince of Posen. The son of a district court councillor, he first went to Bromberg (modernBydgoszcz) in 1834, and from 1846 to 1850 studiedPhilology and History in Heidelberg, Berlin, and Halle. After tours in Switzerland and Italy, he moved to in Berlin in 1852. He became a teacher in Dresden in 1853. He returned to Berlin in 1857 and in 1862 became a professor of literary history at theWar Academy until he changed to theGewerbeakademie (nowTechnische Universität Berlin) in 1867. In 1868 he joined theVandalia-Teutonia Berlin. From 1869 he taught at the Polytechnic in Darmstadt (nowTechnische Universität Darmstadt). In 1893 he was named to theGeheimrat. Roquette befriended the German authorPaul Heyse and, like Heyse, was a member of the literary group"Rütli".
Roquette's pseudo-romantic and epigonic lyric poetry and his fairy tale-laden epic verse is representative ofButzenscheibenlyric. From 1850 on, his works were extremely popular and especially beloved in conservative circles. His fashionable post-revolution poetry was a deliberate departure from the politically tinged verse of thepre-March era. His celebrated verse-epic on themes of love, wine, and youth,Waldmeisters Brautfahrt, first appeared in 1851 and enjoyed sensational success for a book at that time – appearing in more than 50 editions over thirty years.
Roquette's work was popular with someLieder composers, such asPauline Volkstein.[1] His 1851 poemNoch ist die blühende, goldene Zeit was fit to a well-known folk tune in 1863 by the musicianWilhelm Baumgartner. Roquette was also a novelist, playwright, literary historian and autobiographer
Roquette died inDarmstadt. Later generations found Roquette's work to be predominantly shallow and of little artistic value, and it is virtually forgotten today.
