the House of Kotzebue was a Baltic German noble family of Brandenburgish origin, tracing its origin back to Kossebau in Altmark. They held nobility status in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria. The English name of the Alaskan Inuit city of Kotzebue, as well as the neighboring Kotzebue Sound, in the take their names from Otto von Kotzebue, a Russian naval officer of this family.