Christoph Ernst, freiherr von Houwald (November 28, 1778 - January 28, 1845), German dramatist and author, was born at Straupitz in Lower Lusatia, a son of the president of the district court of justice.

He studied law at the university of Halle, and on completion of his academic studies returned home, married, and managed the family estates. In 1516 he afforded a home to his friend KWS Contessa (1777-1825), himself a poet, who had met with serious reverses of fortune; Contessa lived with Houwald, assisting and stimulating him in his literary work, for eight years. In 1821 Houwald was unanimously elected syndic for Lower Lusatia, an office which placed him at the head of the administration of the province. He died at Neuhaus, near Lubben , on the 28th of January 1845.

Houwald is remembered as the author of several so-called "Fate tragedies", of which the best known are Das Bild, Per Leuchtturm, Die Heimkehr, Fluch und Segen (all published in 1821). They have, however, small literary value, and Houwald is seen to better advantage in his narratives and books for juvenile readers, such as Romantische Akkorde (publ. by W Contessa, Berlin, 1817); Büch fur Kinder gebildeter Stande (1819-1824); and Jakob Thau, der Hofnarr (1821).

Houwald's collected works, Sämtliche Werke, were published in five volumes (Leipzig, 1851; 2nd ed., 1858-1859). See J Minor, Die Schicksalstragodie in ihren Haupteertretern (Frankfurt, 1883), and "Das Schicksalsdrama" in Kirschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. cli. (Stuttgart, 1884); O Schmidtborn, C. E von Houwald als Dramatiker (1909).