Background
Valentine Oswald Ottendorfer was born on February 26, 1826, in the town of Zwittau in Moravia, then a province of Austria-Hungary, now Austria, the son of Vincenz and Catharine (Neumeister) Ottendorfer. His father was a cloth-maker.
Valentine Oswald Ottendorfer was born on February 26, 1826, in the town of Zwittau in Moravia, then a province of Austria-Hungary, now Austria, the son of Vincenz and Catharine (Neumeister) Ottendorfer. His father was a cloth-maker.
After attending the school of his native town and the gymnasia of Leitomischl and Brünn, Valentine entered the University of Vienna in 1846 and studied chiefly philosophy. The next year he emigrated to Prague, learning the Czech language and taking up the study of law at the university.
When in 1848 liberal uprisings occurred sporadically in various sections of the German-speaking countries, Ottendorfer took an active part, first in the revolt against the Metternich government in Vienna, then in the Schleswig-Holstein war against Denmark, and finally in the revolutions in Saxony and Baden. From 1849 to 1850 he continued his university studies in Heidelberg but, under the constant menace of arrest by the victorious forces of reaction, decided to flee first to Switzerland, then to the United States.
Ottendorfer embarked for America late in September 1850 and arrived in New York on October 26. After many bitter struggles he secured employment in the counting-room of the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung in 1851. The next year, when the proprietor of this newspaper, Jacob Uhl, died, Ottendorfer became the assistant of the widow, Anna (Behr) Uhl, in its management. In 1858 he was made editor; the following year, on July 23, he married Mrs. Uhl. Under his management the Staats-Zeitung flourished, developing from an insignificant foreign-language newspaper into an influential, widely read metropolitan organ.
A reform Democrat, Ottendorfer was active in anti-Tammany movements in New York and through his editorial and other public utterances became a force even in national politics. He served as alderman and supervisor in New York City from 1872 to 1874 and was a candidate for mayor in 1874. He gave $300, 000 for the erection and endowment of an educational institution in his native town (Die Ottendorfersche Freie Volks-Bibliothek) and founded a home for aged and indigent men on Long Island. The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library in New York was also established by him. He was universally respected as a man of substantial character, stanch liberalism, and great social-mindedness.
Under Ottendorfer's management the Staats-Zeitung flourished, developing from an insignificant foreign-language newspaper into an influential one. Valentine Ottendorfer established the Ottendorfer Free Library (now the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library system which it joined in the 1890s). He also built an educational institution in his native town (Die Ottendorfersche Freie Volks-Bibliothek) and founded a home for aged and indigent men on Long Island. The Ottendorfer Memorial Fellowship awarded annually to an American student of the German language and literature for study abroad was created in his memory.
Ottendorfer adhered to the principles of the Democratic Party, but joined no political organization, and maintained an independent position.
On July 23, Ottendorfer married Anna (Behr) Uhl.
