GOTZ, JOHANN NIKOLAUS German poet, was born at Worms on July 9, 1721. He studied theology at Halle (1739-42), where he became intimate with the poets J. W. L. Gleim and J. P. Uz, acted for some years as military chaplain, and afterwards filled various other ecclesiastical offices. He died at Winterburg on Nov. 4, 1781. Glitz wrote short lyrics and several translations, of which the best is a rendering of Anacreon. The best known of his poems is the elegy Die Mdd cheninsel.
Gotz's Vermischte Gedichte were published with biography by K. W. Ramler (Mannheim, 1785; new ed., 1807) . See also Brie f e von and an J. N. Gotz, ed. by C. Schiiddekopf (1893).