Gotzkowsky was born in
Konitz (Chojnice) in
Royal Prussia,
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and descended from an impoverished family of
Polish nobility. Both his parents died when he was five years old as a result of the plague, which broke out after the
Great Northern War. Gotzkowsky grew up with relatives in Dresden, who neglected his education. As a 14-year-old he went to Berlin to live with his brother and to apprentice in business with Adrian Sprögel till 1730. When Sprögel's business burned down, he joined his brother in the
haberdashery. He established him in his jewel and trinket shop and he quickly acquired customers in the highest circles;
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover was his best client. After he met with
Frederick the Great Gotzkowsky received a
royal warrant. In 1741 he became a Freemason. In 1745, he married the daughter of the rich lace maker Blume. Gotzkowsky persuaded his father-in-law to start a velvet factory, which he managed and inherited in the year after. Then Frederick II commissioned Gotzkowsky to promote the silk trade to compete with France; since 1752/3 Gotzkowsky ran a silk factory employing 1,500 persons. Frederick also followed his recommendations in the field of toll levies and import restrictions. During the
Seven Years' War Gotzkowsky supplied the
Prussian army and entered into consultation with
Russian and
Austrian army leaders, especially after the Prussian defeat at
Kunersdorf in August 1759. On 9 October 1760 Berlin's City Council decided to
surrender the city formally to the Russians rather than the Austrians, as Austria was Prussia's bitterest enemy. The Russians immediately made a demand for 4 million
thalers in exchange for the protection of
private property. On 11 October Gotzkowsky took over the negotiations on behalf of the city council and was able to persuade
Heinrich von Tottleben to reduce the levy to 1.5 million thalers. with only 500,000 thalers, collected among the city's merchants, payable immediately in prewar coins? Tottleben moved into his house but left on the 13th. Later that month, Gotzkowsky traveled to
Königsberg in Prussia as a guarantor for the redemption money. He was arrested, and released after promising a deposit of 62.000 (or 150.000 thaler)? Gotzkowsky succeeded to involve a Hamburg bank, owned by Philipp Heinrich II von Stenglin (1718–1793) to pay the amount, but the Russians received only 57.437 thaler in debased Saxonian coins. Again Gotzkowsky traveled to Danzig to bribe the Russian generals with 24 golden
snuff boxes. In February 1761 Von Tottleben was accused of treason. (The sources are confusing.) Gotzkowsky mentions that Ephraim & Itzig sent him loads of (debased) coins at the beginning of October, which he stored in his cellar. According to himself, the production of more debased coins began at the end of October to pay off the Russians and the Austrians. At the same time Gotzkowsky supported Saxony to pay its war contribution to Prussia. In the summer of 1761 he ordered 400.000 thaler in debased coins not from the Prussian mint masters, but from
Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann. Since August Schimmelmann produced debased coins in
Rethwisch, and sent for 100.000 thaler to Leipzig. As the (foreign) debased coins, like
Plöner and
Zerbster,
Bernburger coins were not accepted (by Frederick and Ephraim & Itzig) Gotzkowsky suggested to spread half of the amount under the
Allies. The men were arrested in
Bielefeld and the money was confiscated and melted down. Gotzkowsky was not impressed, in January 1762 he helped Leipzig for the second time. In September 1762 he travelled to Hamburg in order to borrow money for the distressed city of Berlin. In January Gotzkowsky remarried a 25-year-old ballet-dancer. In April 1763 Gotzkowsky and
Leendert Pieter de Neufville paid a visit to Frederick. On 19 April they bought a huge amount of grain (oats) from the
Russian envoy Vladimir Sergeevich
Dolgorukov (1717 - 1803). It was stored in
Kolberg and unuseful after the Russian army had left
Poland. Because of a shortage in Prussia, the transaction could have been profitable for Gotzkowsky and De Neufville, collaborating with two partners (Von Stein and Leveaux). Legal problems caused the grain to not be exported. When it became clear that half of the grain turned out to be of bad quality, Gotzkowsky preferred to change the contract and offered to pay 2/3 of 1.2 million guilders. The Russians refused and insisted to be paid promptly in Dutch guilders, and not in
debased Prussian coins. Leveaux and Von Stein dropping out of grain deal must have been a shock to Neufville and Gotzkowsky. The restructuring of the Gotzkowsky deal put tremendous pressure on both men. By the end of July 1763, Gotzkowsky had difficulty paying the lacking 700.000 and feared to go
bankrupt. Gotzkowsky had also an impressive number of paintings in stock which he had not sold to Frederick during the war and managed a silkworks, a jewelry business in Leipzig with J.R. Streckfuss, a porcelain factory (now
KPM) that was not running at his satisfactory, all at the same time. On 2 August the infamous Amsterdam company De Neufville was not able to assist and borrow the money from the banks in Amsterdam. The next day De Neufville asked for a postponement of payment. On 4 August Gotzkowsky asked for a
deferral. The deferrals resulted to an international financial crisis in Hamburg (90-97), Frankfurt (30), Berlin (33), Danzig, Breslau, Stockholm, London and Amsterdam (38). On 8 August Gotzkowsky, who did not make any balances since the beginning of the war, was rightly pointed out and got six weeks postponement and no more. On 10 August Frederick obliged
Veitel-Heine Ephraim and
Daniel Itzig under the absolute condition to support Gotzkowsky with 400,000 thaler. Ephraim and Itzig refused and were of the opinion that the bankruptcy of Gotzkowsky was inevitable. On Monday 22 August Frederick set up an "Immediate Exchange Commission", a special court for the tricky bill bankruptcy whose origin he simply could not explain. On 24 August Frederick offered Gotzkowsky to buy his silk- and porcelain factory for 460.000 thaler. On 30 August Gotzkowsky protested against the bankruptcy of De Neufville; it could take many years to solve the question. On 30 January 1764, Gotzkowsky applied for his
bankruptcy. In April 1764, Gotzkowsky offered 50% compensation to his creditors. Gotzkowsky died in 1775 in Berlin. ==Art collector==