Gottschalk, Andreas

Born Feb. 28, 1815, in Düsseldirf; died Sept. 9, 1849, in Cologne. Figure in the German labor movement. Doctor by profession.

Gottschalk was influenced by the theories of “true” socialism. In 1847 he joined the Communist League. After the beginning of the Revolution of 1848–49 in Germany, he was one of the organizers of the mass popular demonstration in Cologne (Mar. 3, 1848), which marked the beginning of the revolutionary struggle in Prussia. He was one of the founders of the Cologne Workers’ League and from April to June 1848 was its chairman. He came out against workers’ participation in the general democratic movement and advanced the adventurist slogan of immediate establishment of a “workers’ republic.” In reaction to criticism of his erroneous line, he resigned from the Communist League in early May 1848. In July 1848. Gottschalk was arrested. In connection with his arrest, K. Marx and F. Engels refrained from any public condemnation of Gottschalk’s views and in print exposed the actions of the Prussian authorities against Gottschalk. After being released from prison in December 1848. Gottschalk tried to split the Cologne Workers’ League and seize its leadership, but he met a decisive rebuff from most of the league’s members.