HOLTY, LUDWIG HEINRICH CHRISTOPH (1748 1776), German poet, was born on Dec. 21, 1748, at the village of Mariensee, Hanover, where his father was pastor. In 1769 he went to study theology at Gottingen. Here he formed a close friendship with J. M. Miller, J. H. Voss, H. Boie, the brothers Stolberg and others, and became one of the founders of the famous society of young poets known as the Gnttinger Dichterbund or Hain. He died of consumption on Sept. I, 1776, at Hanover. Holty was the most gifted lyric poet of the Gottingen circle. He was in fluenced both by Uz and Klopstock, but his love for the Volkslied and his delight in nature preserved him from the artificiality of the one poet and the unworldliness of the other. A strain of melancholy runs through all his lyrics. His ballads are the pioneers of the rich ballad literature on English models, which sprang up in Germany during the next few years. Among his most familiar poems may be mentioned "Ub' immer Treu' and Redlichkeit," "Tanzt dem schonen Mai entgegen," "Rosen auf dem Weg ges treut," and "Wer wollte sick mit Grillen plagen?" Holty's Gedichte were published by his friends Count Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg and J. H. Voss (Hamburg, 1783) ; new ed. enlarged by Voss, with a biography (1804) ; critical edition by W. Michael (2 vols., 1914-18) . See H. Ruete, Holty, sein Leben and Dichten (Guben, 1883) ; A. Sauer, Der Gdttinger Dichterbund, vol. ii. (Stuttgart, 1894), where an excellent selection of Holty's poetry will be found.