12 questions · Literature
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776 to 1822), born in Königsberg, was one of the most dazzling double talents of German Romanticism: by day a Prussian judge at the Berlin high court, on the side a composer, music critic and caricaturist and one of the most influential storytellers of ‘dark Romanticism’. Out of admiration for Mozart he replaced his third name Wilhelm with ‘Amadeus’: hence ‘E. T. A.’. His tales blend the everyday with nightmare, reason with madness. In ‘The Sandman’, the student Nathanael falls in love with the automaton Olimpia and is destroyed by his fear of the eye-stealing Sandman: a story Sigmund Freud later made the prime example of ‘the uncanny’, and which inspired the ballet ‘Coppélia’. His Christmas tale ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ became Tchaikovsky's world-famous ballet. Hoffmann mostly wrote at night, after his court duties and often in wine taverns. He created the brooding conductor Johannes Kreisler (to whom Robert Schumann dedicated his ‘Kreisleriana’), the writing tomcat Murr, and in ‘Mademoiselle de Scudéri’ one of the first German crime stories. He died in Berlin in 1822, aged just 46. Did you know that Jacques Offenbach made Hoffmann himself the hero of an opera? In ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ the writer appears as a stage character telling his own fantastic stories.
Practise for freePurFact brings every card back right before you would forget it. That's how knowledge sticks.
Amadeus
His real name was Ernst Theodor Wilhelm: out of admiration for Mozart he replaced Wilhelm with Amadeus.
💡 Did you know? Hoffmann was a composer himself, writing among others the romantic opera ‘Undine’.
Judge
Hoffmann was a judge at the Berlin high court and mostly wrote at night.
💡 Did you know? As a judge he got into trouble for mocking a powerful official in ‘Master Flea’.
The Sandman
The eerie 1816 novella is a key text of dark Romanticism.
💡 Did you know? Sigmund Freud analysed ‘The Sandman’ in his famous essay ‘The Uncanny’.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
On Christmas night a girl watches a nutcracker do battle with the Mouse King.
💡 Did you know? Tchaikovsky's ballet is based on a French adaptation of the tale by Alexandre Dumas.
The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr
The cat Murr writes his memoirs: accidentally using the biography of the conductor Kreisler as blotting paper.
💡 Did you know? Hoffmann really did own a tomcat named Murr, of whom he was very fond.
Jacques Offenbach
In ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ the writer appears on stage telling his own fantastic stories.
💡 Did you know? Offenbach died in 1880 before finishing the opera: it premiered posthumously.
Mademoiselle de Scudéri
The poet Madeleine de Scudéri unravels a series of murders in the Paris of Louis XIV.
💡 Did you know? It appeared in 1819: over two decades before Poe's ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’.
Romanticism
Hoffmann is the foremost representative of the ‘dark’ (eerie) side of Romanticism.
💡 Did you know? His fantastic, uncanny themes influenced authors from Poe to Kafka.
Johannes Kreisler
The brilliant, tormented conductor Kreisler is Hoffmann's musical alter ego.
💡 Did you know? Schumann composed the ‘Kreisleriana’ in 1838: named after this very character.
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia; today the city is called Kaliningrad.
💡 Did you know? The philosopher Immanuel Kant came from the same city.
Composer
He wrote operas such as ‘Undine’, conducted, and penned influential music criticism.
💡 Did you know? As a critic he revered Beethoven and helped shape the image of his music.
The Golden Pot
A ‘fairy tale of modern times’ in which the marvellous breaks into everyday Dresden life.
💡 Did you know? Hoffmann himself considered it one of his finest tales.
Home · All topics · Legal notice · Privacy · Terms · Contact
